Crescendo
by TheAsterousAuthor
Summary: Olivia Blake. Regular, run-of-the-mill, newly-minted professional fashion photographer with an affinity for alternative music. Your unfriendly neighborhood deaf girl. Or at least I was. Until the particle accelerator exploded and my life was changed forever. Now, I have to deal with crazy meta-humans and powers I can't even begin to understand. - OC Story, now off hiatus!
1. Prologue - Listen

**Aloha! This is my first Flash fanfic, hopeful first of many, and it's an OC story! I hope you enjoy! :D**

****Disclaimer: If I owned The Flash, don't you think I would be banning WestAllen forever and making Barricity a reality?****

* * *

Listen.

Close your eyes and listen to the wind rustling through the trees. The soft calls of birds in the sky. The quiet trickle of a small creek.

Listen.

* * *

There's a moment in everyone's life when they open their eyes, and it's like they've been blind their whole life and now they can see. A moment of change, where nothing matters but the flick of the switch that turns your whole world upside down.

It happens to everybody.

Take me, for example.

Olivia Blake. Regular, run-of-the-mill, newly-minted professional photographer with an affinity for alternative music. Your unfriendly neighborhood deaf girl.

Or at least I was.

Until the particle accelerator exploded and my life was changed forever.

That was my moment.

* * *

Open your eyes.

Listen.

The noise is gone.

Only silence remains.

* * *

**So? What do you think? This **_**is**_ **just a prologue, so it's really vague and kinda doesn't make sense, but the next chapter is more normal! I'm hoping that'll be ready by tomorrow, if not then two days from now. :D**

**Please review and tell me what you thought!**


	2. Chapter 1 - Shattered

**Hooray for Chapter 1! I know, I know, super quick update, BUT WHO CARES I'M ON A ROLL HERE! :D**

* * *

Olivia was in the photo studio, taking down the teal backdrop still hung up on the wall. "Little Lion Man" by Mumford and Sons was playing from her portable speakers set up in the corner, the beat matching the pitter-pat of the rain on the roof. She hummed along quietly as she rolled up the thick canvas and tucked it into the storage closet.

Dusting off her hands, Olivia reached up to her ear and tweaked the volume of her constantly-malfunctioning hearing aid before rolling up the sleeves of her shirt and hefting a shiny and expensive camera, most likely the studio's new Hasselblad H5D-50, off of its tripod and into its padded box. She packed up the lens caps and other pieces of equipment into the box before plugging the charger into the camera and moving on to the tripod. She pulled the legs towards each other, clicking them securely together, and folded it up, stacking it on top of the boxes of film in the closet.

After about another half hour of cleaning up, Olivia stood by the window, surveying the room in satisfaction. All of the equipment was tucked safely away, the front desk was organized, and even the coffee maker shone. She smiled and reached for her purple quilted and fraying messenger bag, which was on the floor next to her, when a huge crack of thunder rang out, making her hearing aid crackle and start to short out. She grimaced, readjusting it in her ear quickly.

Outside rain was now pouring down in buckets, making people run for cover underneath awnings and inside public buildings. Olivia turned and leaned against the windowsill, transfixed by the movement. She rested her head in her hands, elbows on the small ledge of the sill, eyes round, taking in the sight through the rain-splattered window. Taxis and cars in the streets were moving at a snail's pace, and in the distance the S.T.A.R. Labs was awash with light, glow pulsing like a heartbeat.

She was knocked out of her trance by the sound of her phone chiming, signalling a call. Olivia sighed, knowing that only one person could be calling her, today of all days. She fished her phone out of her bag's front pocket and turned to lean back against the wall. Caller-ID confirmed that it was her sister, making her roll her eyes but she picked up anyways.

"Oh. My. God. Livvy, this was the best night of my _life_!" Olive screamed, making Olivia pull the phone away from her ear, wincing. "You _totally_ should have been there."

"Volume, Olli, volume." Olivia cautioned.

"Oh. Yeah, right. Sorry," her sister apologized. "It's just… wow, I can't believe the particle accelerator is on! I made Eddie come with me, and we got there late and couldn't even see the stage, but whatever. It was still so cool!"

"I hope you didn't torture our cousin with random science-y facts, Olli." Olivia teased, smiling.

"He's a cop, Livvy, he's been through worse."

"Oh, trust me, he hasn't. I was there at the science fair senior year, remember?"

"Whatever. I think he had fun. There was a kid who tried to steal someone's laptop, and Eddie caught him before he could get away. It was awesome, he just pulled out his gun and was like, 'Do you want to find out the hard way you're not faster than a bullet?' and I was all like, 'Cuff him, Eddie!' from next to the squad car - worst vehicle _ever_, by the way, but Eddie let me put on the siren on the way to the station bringing in the kid, which made it better. So anywa-" Olive rambled, her words muffled by her chewing what was most likely _another_ order of fries from Big Belly Burger.

"Okay, Olli, I get it. Exciting evening, topped off with Big Belly Burger at home, right?" Olivia interrupted, laughing.

"You know it!" she exclaimed.

"How are you not fat?!"

"Magic," Olive declared.

"Yeah, sure."

Olivia could feel Olive deflating, even over the phone. "Okay, so I'm _maybe_ dating a personal trainer who helps me out for free…"

"Knew it!" exclaimed Olivia. "Hey, do you think I could-"

She was interrupted by a loud crackle and a long burst of static.

"Olli? Olli? You're breaking up!" she said into the phone.

"Sor-kgchh-Livvy-kgchh-bye!" was all she heard. She looked down at her phone screen to see that her sister had hung up.

Olivia shrugged and tucked her phone back into her messenger bag. She turned back towards the window just in time to see the S.T.A.R. labs building partially explode and send out a ripple of energy. As the wave spread out, an enormous bolt of lightning struck a building Olivia knew well, thanks to her cousin, hitting the second floor of the Central City Police Department building.

She covered her mouth in shock, the ripple of energy rapidly approaching the studio. The energy hit the building, shattering the window in front of her just as her hearing aid fizzed again. Olivia was knocked backward, unconscious and covered in glass cuts before she even hit the wooden floor.

* * *

_**The Next Day**_

Lola skipped across the street to her studio, shuffling around in her purse for the keys to the studio. She walked up to the door, keys out and ready, when she noticed the door was actually unlocked. Frowning, as she was sure she told Olivia to lock up before leaving, she turned the knob and pushed open the door. The entryway and front desk seemed completely in order, so she continued down the hall to the studio.

Gasping, she took in the sight of the East windows shattered, cold, wet wind blowing in, all of the tables knocked over, and Olivia laying unmoving in the middle of it all. She had small streams of blood dripping from a multitude of cuts, most likely from the glass shards scattered across the floor, her bag was open and the contents spilling onto the floor, and her long straight blonde hair pooled around her head in every direction.

Lola squeaked and knelt down quickly next to Olivia. She checked for a pulse, sighing with relief when she felt a slow but steady beat. She tried shaking Olivia awake, but she didn't respond. Lola snapped out her phone, quickly dialing 9-1-1. "Yes, I just found my employee unconscious… No, she won't wake up, I tried… She has a lot of cuts, they look pretty serious… I'm at the photo studio on 24th and Pearl… Ambulance on its way? Great," she ended the call, eyes moving down to Olivia's phone. She reached down and grabbed it, turning it on and going quickly to her contacts. She scrolled down and found 'Olli' and called her quickly.

Olive picked up after only a few rings. "Hey, Livvy, you were supposed to call me so we could talk more. I can't believe the particle accelerator _blew up_!"

Lola sighed. "I'm sorry, but this is Lola, Olivia's boss. I'm afraid…"

"What?" Olive asked, now worried. "What, did something happen to her? Is she okay?"

"I just found her unconscious, still at work. Something shattered the windows, and she's cut up pretty badly. I've already called an ambulance and it's on its way right now."

"Ohmigod. Ohmigod." Olive started hyperventilating. "No. No. This isn't possible. She's fine. I just talked to her last night. This cannot be happening."

"I'm so sorry. The paramedics are coming here, do you want me to give you the address? Is there anyone else you should call? Your parents, friends?"

"I know where my own sister works!" Olive snapped, breathing heavily. She sighed and took one long, deep breath to calm herself down. "I'm sorry, that uncalled for. Thank you for helping and letting me know. I have to go. I'll just be at the hospital." She hung up abruptly.

Lola sighed and stared at the room. "There has to be something I can do…" she muttered, frantic. Her eyes scanned for something, _anything_, until they landed all of Olivia's scattered things. She started to pick them up and shove them inside the messenger bag, placing her phone on top. She was just closing the bag when she heard the sirens of the ambulance and rushed outside.

The paramedics jumped out and opened the back doors, swiftly pulling out a gurney while Lola looked on with troubled eyes. They rushed inside, Lola not far behind, and gently picked Olivia up and placed her on the gurney, rolling her back into the ambulance in under a minute. Lola handed the last doctor her employee's bag, once again full, and he leaped into the back of the car with Olivia, shutting the doors behind him just as they drove off, siren wailing.

* * *

The doctors gathered around Olivia, quickly setting up heart and blood pressure monitors and a portable IV. The heart monitor gave off slow, steady beeps while the blood pressure simply recorded the data. The doctors were sighing with relief, beginning to relax, when the steady beep turned into one long solid 'beeeeeeeep' and the monitor itself read a flat line.

"She's coding!" one doctor yelled, pulling out the defibrillator. He placed the paddles on her torso in the correct locations, letting the electrical charge build up before, "Clear!" he yelled. Electricity surged through Olivia, but the 'beeeeep' continued.

"Raise the voltage!" the doctor decided. He placed the paddles on her again. "Clear!" This time, the slow, steady beeps returned, just as the ambulance pulled up to the hospital. The doctors pulled her out of the ambulance and onto the sidewalk, rolling the gurney gently but quickly to the ICU.

* * *

Olive sat next to Eddie in the waiting room for the ICU. They were both in uncomfortable hospital chairs, but Eddie was resting, tired because of a long night of rushing around town helping out with the chaos after the explosion, while Olive was wide awake and unable to think of any but the image of her sister being swept by her in a gurney.

The doors leading out of the hospital clanged open, letting in a young woman, probably about Olive's age. She was rushing into the chair across from Olive and Eddie when recognition lit upon her face.

"Detective Pretty B-Thawne?" she asked disbelievingly, waking him up. "What are you doing here?"

"Huh?" he said, blinking and rubbing his eyes. "My cousin Olivia. She was found this morning, unconscious. She's in a coma now." he explained sorrowfully in a soft voice, punctuating it with a huge yawn.

"And she's your… girlfriend?" the woman asked, gesturing towards Olive. Eddie looked up and seemingly remembered that she was next to him.

"Oh, no. This is Olivia's twin. And you're Iris, right? Joe's daughter?" When she nodded, he smiled tensely. "This is Olive."

Iris nodded at her in greeting. " Before you ask, I'm here because Barry - he's my best friend," she added for Olive's benefit, "Was struck by lightning last night and he's in a coma now, too."

"Barry? I had no idea! I'm so sorry, Iris." Eddie said.

The three of them settled into an uncomfortable silence. Iris started leafing through magazines to distract herself. Olive pulled her feet onto her chair and tucked her knees underneath her chin. Eddie simply sat anxiously, tapping his foot against the ground nervously.

A nurse walked into the waiting room from the ICU. He looked down at his clipboard, flipping through a few pages before tapping on it with his pen. He glanced up quickly, tucking the board underneath his arm. "Visitors for a Ms. Blake and a Mr. Allen?" he called.

Immediately, Iris, Eddie, and Olive stood up and rushed over to the nurse who was clicking his pen impatiently. "Come on," he said, walking quickly down the hallway. "Okay, you're actually going to be in adjoining rooms - here," he pointed to a doorway. "Mr. Allen is through here, bed all the way down to the right." Iris shuffled past him, "and Ms. Blake is one from the end, also to the right. Huh. You'll be right next Mr. Allen." Olive and Eddie shrugged, rushing in to see Olivia.

They stopped in front of her, shocked to see her so… so… _lifeless_. She was hooked up to what seemed to be a dozen machines, monitoring everything from her heartbeat to her brain activity. She had a respirator, too, a machine breathing for her. She was covered in bandages of varying sizes, a band-aid size to big Ace bandages wrapped around her entire right arm.

Olive stepped forward cautiously, then sat in one of two chairs beside her bed and grabbed her hand. She squeezed it tightly, silent tears streaming down her face like two small rivers. Teardrops splattered on the sheets as her shoulders began to shake and she started to sob in earnest.

Eddie walked over and sat in the chair beside her, then leaned over and gave Olive a hug, as she broke down crying. A few tears slipped down his face as well, but he wiped them away as quickly as they came.

"H-Hey, Livvy," Olive whispered to her sister. "I hope you're doing okay. The doctors say that you waking up is an 8 in 10 chance, so that's good r-right?" she hiccuped, leaning on Eddie. "Anyways, I brought you your favorite book. I thought I could read it to you, since auditory functions are the last to fade. _The Selection_ by Kiera Cass. You told me that you really loved it because of the outfits, but also that Prince Maxon didn't hurt the book's chances of being a bestseller. Remember, that Livvy?"

The lights flickered, making Olive pause. They turned back on, making Olive sigh in relief, then the whole room was plunged into darkness, but not before she heard a long, insistent 'beeeeeep' from where Iris was visiting her friend. Doctors quickly rushed in, moving over there with a defibrillator. "Clear!" someone yelled, followed by a thump and "Bring up the voltage!" Olive could hear Iris being pulled away, screaming, "Let me stay! I'm _family_!"

In all the commotion, Olive's focus was torn from her twin. Once the lights flickered back on, Iris' friend recovered from his cardiac arrest, she turned back to Olivia. Her eyes widened when she couldn't hear any soft puffs of breath anymore, her sister's chest no longer rising and falling.

"Doctor!" she shrieked frantically. "Doctor! Eddie! _Someone, help_!"

A pair of doctors rushed over. They quickly took in that her sister wasn't breathing, and reacted accordingly, swiftly turning up the amount of oxygen being pumped through the respirator. A few tense moments later, Olivia took a deep breath, then settled into a normal breathing pattern as the doctors turned the amount of oxygen being pumped back down to the typical level.

Olive stood gasping, shaking with tears slipping down her cheeks as Eddie tackled her in a fierce hug, soothing her. "It's okay," he whispered. "Livvy's okay, she's going to be fine."

"I believe she could be, yes," a voice echoed from behind them, making her and Eddie turn around quickly, revealing that the speaker was none other than Dr. Harrison Wells, albeit in a wheelchair.. "As could Mr. Allen," he added, directing that towards Iris. "On one condition: the both of them come to be cared by my top scientists at S.T.A.R. Labs."

* * *

**Whew! That was a LOOOOONG chapter compared to the prologue. **

**Warning: I have no idea if this will be the usual length for a chapter or not. So don't get your hopes up, expecting chapters on the longer side.**

**As for the medical scenes, keep in mind that I'm not a doctor. If you see inaccuracies in those parts (and I'm sure that there are lots), then please don't be a jerk about it. Point it out politely and I'll change it because you asked nicely.**

**IF YOU GIVE ME RUDE, I GIVE YOU EVEN MORE RUDE.**

**Also, I hope that you can keep Olive and Olivia straight.**

**Olivia - Livvy - main-main character**

**Olive - Olli - not main-main character**

**I know Olli had a long bit focused on her this chapter, but that's most likely a one-time thing! The rest of the story will be mainly featured on Livvy.**

**Anyways, I hoped you like it! Tell me what you thought in a review, please! :)**

**PM if you have any questions, if you're confused, or if you just want to chat about random fangirly things! :D**

****PS: Super quick updating is not my usual thing, so it might be a while until Ch. 2. Just warning you.****


	3. Chapter 2 - Rememberance

**Okay, I lied. Olive will be getting a few more big chunks of POV, but it's only because Olivia's in a coma!**

**Presenting… CHAPTER 2! :D**

**By the way, the italics means that it's a dream *cough cough* Olivia's dremories (memories reappearing through dreams) *cough cough***

* * *

Olive stepped out of her apartment building, raising her hand, waving it wildly in the air to hail a taxi. When one pulled up, she jumped in, lugging a heavy duffel bag with her.

"S.T.A.R. Labs, please." she said, tossing a twenty dollar bill into his lap, knowing that he would need some incentive to drive to the practically-abandoned building that everyone now considered to be bad luck.

"Hmph, Missy, I ain't goin' down there, not for nuthin'," the cab driver scoffed, spitting out his window.

"Another twenty when we get there, plus the regular fare," Olive bargained.

"Hmph, guesso, Missy." he consented grumpily, pulling away from the curb and diving in traffic. Within about twenty minutes, the cab was idling in front of S.T.A.R. Labs.

"Why d'ya even wanna go there, Missy?" the driver snorted huffily, counting out the bills she handed him. Satisfied, he tucked them into a corner of the dashboard.

"Where else would I be able to talk to my sister?" she said, hefting the heavy bag over her shoulder and trudging in through the lab doors.

Inside, she followed the long, curving hallway until she reached the main lab room. Stepping through the wide doorway and walking up to the twin hospital beds in the middle of the room, she set her bag down beside the bedside chair, currently occupied by her snoring cousin whose head was next to Olivia's knees, resting on her bed.

Olive poked him in the cheek, attempting to rouse him, and when that didn't work, she licked her finger, blew on it for a second to make it cold, and quickly stuck it in his ear. Eddie yelped, making Olive crack up. When he calmed down, he glared at her then smiled, standing up to give her a warm hug.

"Good to see you, Olli, it's been, what, a whole twelve hours?" he joked, pulling back.

"Yeah, well, I'm here to see Livvy, not you. Although you do practically live here now, so it may as well be the same." she teased back.

On the desks across the room, a timer chimed, interrupting their conversation and signalling that the day's quarterly checkup was about to start.

"In come the nerds…" sighed Eddie, pulling his coat off of the back of the chair, "And out goes the Eddie. My shift's in about half an hour, I have to go."

Sure enough, just as Eddie was walking out the doorway while shrugging on his jacket, the two scientists swept in past him.

"Cisco," Dr. Snow said unemotionally, "Check on the monitoring equipment. I'll look at their vitals and adjust the prescriptions accordingly."

"Got it, Caitlin." he said, unwrapping a lollipop and sticking it into his mouth. He walked over to other side of Olivia's bed and fiddled with the knobs of her heart monitor. Finding everything in order, he moved on to the respirator and then the others. He finished quickly, standing up abruptly. His eyes moved onto Barry's machines, but widened in shock when he saw Olive.

"Oh, uh, hi." he said, talking around the lollipop that was still in his mouth and sticking out his hand. Olive shook it tentatively, flicking her hair over her shoulder, smiling at how when she did, his jaw dropped.

He cleared his throat awkwardly, dropping her hand. "I'm, uh, Cisco." he said nervously.

"Olive." she introduced herself. She gestured down at Olivia. "Livvy's twin, duh."

"Cisco!" Caitlin called. "I think there's something wrong with Mr. Allen's blood pressure monitor, get on that."

"Right, right." he muttered, walking around the beds to get to the machines. He opened a control panel and looked inside, pulling out and readjusting a few wires. He closed it back up and screwed it shut. "All good," he declared, smiling at Olive dumbly.

"Cisco," reminded Dr. Snow, "Let her be with her sister in peace, we're leaving."

He sighed and followed her, shuffling out the door with one last backwards glance.

Olive sat down, pulling the last book in "The Selection" series, _The One_, out of her bag. She grabbed her sister's portable speakers and started playing "Pitter-Pat" by Erin McCarley softly. She thumbed through the book's pages, flipping to the handmade bookmark stuck at about the midway point of the book.

"Now, where were we?" she said, scanning the page. She had just opened her mouth to start reading when Iris stomped in, storming by her to sit by the other patient, Mr. Allen.

"Ugh, work was awful today, Bare. There were a whole bunch of really pushy customers that were super impatient and kept making me redo their coffees. My cinnamon-caramel mochas with whipped cream are _delicious_, I'll have you know. If you don't like them, then that's your fault, not mine." Iris rambled. Olive turned back to her book and continued reading it to Olivia as Iris kept talking to Barry about his day.

* * *

_A 7 year old Olivia squealed, running away from her father, the sheet tied around her shoulders trailing behind her. "You'll never catch me!" she shrieked, turning around a sharp corner and ducking behind the chocolate brown couch._

"_Super unicorn beam, activate!" shouted Olive, wearing a cape identical to Olivia's, from the other side of the room just as their father rushed in through the doorway. She began chucking stuffed animals at him mercilessly. He groaned and fell to the floor dramatically. The sisters ran over to him, still tossing plushies. They looked him over, then turned to each other and high-fived._

"_Yay!" they shrieked in unison. "The evil Shmoogal Burger is dead!" Still on the floor, their father, eyes closed, twitched and stuck out his tongue in mock-death. The two sisters jumped around in a circle, hands linked. "All in a day's work for the Super Twins!"_

_Their mother poked her head into the room. "Do the Super Twins accept cookies as a reward for saving the world? Because I just pulled a fresh batch out of the oven."_

"_Cookies!" Olive yelled excitedly, rushing into the kitchen. Olivia simply looked confused, like she didn't even hear her mother. Olive walked back to her and tugged on her arm. "Come on, Livvy, Mommy made cookies!" A look of comprehension lit her face and she rushed into the kitchen with her sister. _

_Their father opened one eye cautiously, then stood up. Their mother walked over to him, smiling gently. "You okay? The Super Twins are fierce heroes." she joked, pulling a stuffed animal off his shoulder as they walked in after their daughters, who had already pulled three cookies each off of the cooling rack._

"_Livvy's got a doctor's appointment next week." her father said, pointing it out on the calendar. _

_Their mother sighed. "She's fine. She has to be."_

_The scene shifted to a doctor's office._

_Olivia sat on the examination table quietly, her parents standing next to her. The door opened, letting in the doctor, who shut it behind her with a 'click.'_

"_I'm sorry," the doctor said, a look of sympathy on her face, "But Olivia's ear infection has only gotten worse. The medication isn't working."_

_Her parents gasped, shocked. "But she seemed to be improving so much…" whispered her mother._

"_There's one more thing. I'm sorry you have to hear this, but…" _

_Olivia was looking to her parents then the doctor with a look of confusion on her face Why were they moving their mouths without actually talking? "Mommy," she tried to say, but she couldn't hear her own voice. "Mommy, Daddy, I can't hear anything! What's wrong with me?" she tried to ask. Still no sound came through._

"_Your daughter has completely lost her hearing. She's deaf."_

_The scene melted into a different examination room, this one bigger and filled with more machines and equipment._

_Olivia walked in through the door, between both of her parents and holding their hands. A doctor followed them, clipboard in hand._

"_So, for today, we just need to get some measurements of Olivia's ears so we can make her hearing aids as comfortable as possible. They should be ready by next week, which is great." the doctor said, smiling. _

_Lost, Olivia looked from one adult to the next. Sensing her confusion, he squatted down on front of her and signed to her what he had just told her parents. Staring at his hands intently, she tried to remember what each motion meant, then understanding lit her face. She nodded and signed back "Okay."_

_Leading her to an examination table, the doctor sat her down on it and pulled out his tools. He quickly measured all of the dimensions needed, then let Olivia hop off the table and leave his office._

"_Come back next week and we can make any last adjustments!" he called to her parents._

_The image faded into the same room, but with some of the equipment moved around and more papers strewn across the desk._

_Olivia was back on the examination table, swinging her feet back and forth slightly. Her parents were standing at the end of the table, anxious but somewhat hopeful looks on their faces. _

_The doctor walked in and shut the door behind him. He was carrying a small white box in his hands, holding it with care. He walked up to Olivia and opened the box, showing her her two hearing aids, tucked into some padding._

"_Go on," the doctor signed to her, "Put them on."_

_Cautiously, as if it was too good to be true, she picked them up. She held them reverently in her hands for a moment, then chose the one labeled 'R' and put it in her ear. She did the same with 'L' and waited a moment before taking a deep breath and turning them both on._

_A rush of noise greeted her: she could hear she own breathing again, birdcalls through the open window, the parents' nervous shuffling, everything._

"_Livvy?" her mother asked softly, hopefully. "Can you hear u—"_

_They were interrupted by Olivia's abrupt hug, tackling both of them._

"_I can hear," she sobbed, tears trickling down her face. "I can hear you."_

_She turned and hugged the doctor as well. "Thank you," she whispered, pulling back._

"_I'm just doing my job." he said modestly, smiling. "It was nothing."_

"_No," corrected Olivia's father, hugging her again. "It was everything."_

_The scene flickered for a moment and shifted to a car driving down a long, empty stretch of road at night time. _

_Olivia was at the wheel of the car, her mother in the front seat, and Olive and their father were in the back with Eddie. The family had driven over to pick him up from the airport for his Christmas visit with their family._

_The car was silent except for Eddie's loud snores, as he was sleeping, face pressed against the window. Olivia stopped the car at a red light, fingers tapping against the wheel. The light turned green._

_Olivia was shifting their car forward across the intersection when a car swerved out of nowhere and crashed into the side of the family's car, making a horrible crunching noise before the airbags went off._

_The scene slipped into a hospital room with an irritating beeping heart monitor._

_Olive was unconscious in the bed, Olivia pacing at its foot, left arm in a cast, and Eddie asleep in a chair at the bedside, bandages wrapped around his hand and one over a long set of stitches running from his temple to the bottom of his jaw._

_Olive shifted and opened her eyes. Olivia looked up and rushed over. _

"_Are you okay? How do you feel?" she asked worriedly._

"_Sore," admitted Olive, wincing. She glanced over to her right, towards the machinery hooked up to her. "Could there be a more annoying sound than a heart monitor?" she joked, laughing but then gasping in pain._

"_Note to self - laughing is not recommended."_

_Olivia frowned. "You have three broken ribs, Olli, plus a concussion and a fractured tibia. I wouldn't recommend _any _sort of movement."_

_Olive nodded. "What happened?" she asked, looking up at her sister's face, identical to her own._

"_Drunk driver." Olivia answered. "I got lucky, only a broken arm. Eddie mostly got minor cuts from his window shattering, but he has one big jagged one that needed stitches."_

"_Mom and Dad?" Olive whispered._

_Olivia looked away sadly._

"_Tell me, Livvy." she insisted._

"_It… It doesn't look so good. Not for either of them," Olivia whispered, sitting down heavily on the edge of her twin's bed._

_Eyes wide with shock, Olive sat still, unable to process the information._

"_They might not make i—" Olivia continued._

"_No! No, we have to believe they're going to be fine. They're strong, they'll pull through." Olive shut her eyes. "I have to believe it," she whispered._

_A nurse and a doctor walked into the room heavily, sadly._

"_I'm so sorry…" they started._

"_No!" shrieked Olive. "No! NO!"_

"_But your parents… just passed away."_

"_No," she whispered._

_Olivia, tears dripping down her face, leaned over and hugged her sister. They began to cry in each other's arms, mourning the loss of the most supporting and loving parents one could wish for._

_The scene melted away into a rainy day in a cemetery._

_The whole family had come for the joint funeral. Olive and Olivia had been staying together, never leaving each other's sides, with Eddie to look after them. The friends of friends that had arrived to mourn a couple they never really never knew shuffled awkwardly in their seats, umbrellas overhead. They watched as the twins and their cousin walked to the caskets and placed a white rose on each._

"_Terrible tragedy," they whispered. "Losing their parents at only 16."_

_Olive and Olivia ignored the murmurs and closed their eyes and began to cry. Their tears mixed with the falling rain and slipped onto the caskets._

"_Goodbye," they thought together sadly._

* * *

Olivia's heart monitor's beeps grew more and more frequent. Her breathing quickened.

Gasping, her eyes flicked open and she sat up suddenly, awake.

* * *

**DUNDUNDUNDUN.**

**Livvy's awaaaaaaake!**

***dance parties***

**OMG WHY DO I ALWAYS MAKE EDDIE SLEEPING.**

**Exhibit A: Hospital - Eddie's asleep in the waiting room**

**Exhibit B: S.T.A.R. Labs - Eddie's asleep in his chair**

**Exhibit C: Car Flashback - Eddie's asleep in the backseat**

**Exhibit D: Hospital Flashback - Eddie's asleep in a chair next to Olive's hospital bed.**

**Anyways.**

**Again, I'm not a doctor of any sort, so I have no idea if my reasoning on that part is anywhere near right. Don't judge.**

**I hope you enjoyed the blob-load of backstory I threw in! IT WAS FUN TO WRITE.**

**Even if, you know, some of the scenes were sad.**

**Make sure to let me know in a review if anyone is OOC, 'cause I feel like Eddie kinda is, but, I mean, Olli and Livvy are family, so he's more like a teddy bear with them, all huggy and stuff.**

**HELP MEH.**

**It would be awesome if Chapter 3 was posted soon, wouldn't it?**

**Don't get your hopes up.**

**I'm sure I'll fizzle out soon, and there will be month-ish lapses between chapters.**

**I mean, I don't want it to happen, but it's sorta inevitable :(**

**Review, favorite, follow, love, adore, hate - well, hopefully not hate - just do whatever it is you do! :D**


	4. Chapter 3 - Dawning

**O hai dere.**

**Sorry for the lack of updates, but I was lazy.**

**It happens. *cough cough* like all the time *cough cough***

**This chappie's a bit longer than the others, though, so I hope that makes up for it.**

**CHAPTER 3! I hope you enjoooooyyyyyy!**

* * *

_Previously on Crescendo:_

_Olivia's heart monitor's beeps grew more and more frequent. Her breathing quickened._

_Gasping, her eyes flicked open and she sat up suddenly, awake._

* * *

Olivia, sitting up in her bed, brought one hand to her forehead while the other was propping her up. Her head was pounding, making her wince in pain. She brushed her scraggly blonde hair out of her face, looking around the room.

The lights were turned off, and a glance out the window told Olivia that it was the middle of the night. She was in a bed, hooked up to a jumble of machines. There was a U shape of long desks about twenty feet in front of her, with some computers and little trinkets resting on it. Looking to her right, her eyes widened in shock at the sight of a guy laying in a hospital bed about 10 feet away from her own. He was asleep, breathing deep and slow, the beeping of his monitors consistent and even.

Going back to her inspection of the room, her eyes flicked to the doorway on the other side of the desks. Cringing but determined, she unhooked and detached herself from all of the machinery, making it all go off, frantically beeping and buzzing. Ignoring them, she turned and twisted her legs off of the bed, dropping her feet to the floor and pushing herself upright.

A wave of dizziness hit Olivia, and she put a hand on the bed to steady herself. She stumbled forward, talking a few steps before tripping and falling forwards. On the floor, she reached up for something, hand hitting the man's bed. She grasped the edge tightly and pulled herself up, panting as she stood.

Turning towards the doorway, Olivia walked unsteadily away from the beds with one backwards glance at the still-sleeping man. Hands outstretched for balance, she stepped forward slowly in a wobbly line. She stumbled into the corner of the doorway, then pushed herself off of it and continued to make her way down the curving hallway.

* * *

Olivia stood outside of the building. She was in front of the main doors, eyes closed. She breathed in deeply, inhaling the cool night air. It was mostly silent, the only noise being the faint honking of horns and rush of distant cars.

She shivered, opening her eyes and rubbing her eyes. Her teeth chattered as she took in her clothes, most definitely not meant for being outside at 3:00 AM. She had on a black tank top and dark gray yoga pants, both comfortable but not all that warm. She was just turning around to go back inside of the mysterious building when a car pulled up quickly, letting out a woman with reddish hair and young man with a Star Wars shirt. They looked around anxiously, spotting her quickly, sighing with relief when they did.

"Good, you're alive," called the man as he walked over.

Rushing over to Olivia's side, the woman grabbed her arms and poked and prodded her for a moment before pulling out a small flashlight. She clicked it on and pointed it at both of Olivia's eyes.

"Pupils equally reactive to light, good," she muttered, shuffling around in her bag for a moment. She fished out a stethoscope and pressed against Olivia's chest, listening for a moment. "Heart rate seems normal."

"Leave her alone, Caitlin," the man said, swatting the woman's hands away from Olivia's face. "She just woke up from a coma, you could give her a minute to process."

"Wha-what?" stuttered Olivia as she backed away nervously from the two strangers, confused. "I was in a coma? But… why? I feel fine, just a little tired."

"Well, that's odd." the man said, stepping forward. "Considering you've been asleep for the past month."

Shocked, Olivia stopped moving to the building. "A-a _month_? That's crazy! How is that even possible?"

"Um… well… We don't _totally_ know why it happened, but you were working late and you were by a window when… um… theparticleacceleratorexploded…" he rushed before continuing, glaring at the woman who was measuring Olivia's blood pressure while she was distracted, "And the window shattered, giving you that cut," he pointed to her cheek, making her lift her hand to feel a slightly raised scar, "Along with a few others, and knocking you into a coma. So, we took you here along with another guy to keep you two alive."

"Wow. Um. Okay." she responded, not knowing what else to say. "And where exactly is… here? And what did you say about something exploding?"

"Here. Um. S.T.A.R. Labs. Which exploded."

Olivia's eyes flicked around to look at the building, widening when they took in the charred half of the building, which were completely destroyed. She stared for about three seconds before her eyes backwards into her head and she fainted, tumbling to the ground.

* * *

An irritating beep rung in Olivia's ears, making her groan and snap open her eyes. For the second time that night, she found herself in the bed, hooked up to a bunch of machines.

The man and the woman stood over her anxiously, sighing with relief and relaxing when she opened her eyes. She squinted, not accustomed to the bright lights turned on above her head.

"Great," she groaned, pushing herself off the bed, unattaching all of the wires and machines from her body. "How long was I comatose for this time?"

"Well… actually, your body became so overwhelmed by the stress of your situation and the shock of everything that you learned that you, well, syncoped." the woman said, a look of sympathy on her face.

"Translation: you fainted," the man added helpfully. "You've only been out for about 15 minutes."

"What fun," she muttered, stretching and shaking off a wave of dizziness. "So who's he?" she asked, pointing towards to unconscious man in the other bed. "Wait. Who are _you_ two?"

"I'm Cisco. And this is Caitlin—_Dr. Snow_." he corrected himself, still smiling.

"And he's Barry Allen." Dr. Snow supplied, moving to stand back by the desks. "Young man struck by lightning and in a coma, from about the same time as you, actually."

Olivia stood thinking for a moment, trying to remember the night the particle accelerator turned on. She dug deep into her brain before realization dawned on her. "Wait… does he work at the CCPD?"

"Uh, yeah, actually, I think he does. Forensics, I think. How'd you know?" Cisco asked, puzzled.

"I saw a bolt of lightning hit the second floor of the precinct the night of the explosion!" she exclaimed. "Wow… How weird is that? Me seeing the lightning that struck him?"

"Yeah. Interesting coincidence." commented Dr. Snow from where she was tapping away at the computers, switching from one to the next every minute or so.

"Oh, I don't believe in coincidences." a new voice rang out from the hallway. In rolled a middle-aged man with glasses in a wheelchair. "Everything happens for a reason, Ms. Blake. Remember that."

"Dr. Wells." Cisco and Dr. Snow said in unison, slightly shocked, standing up straighter.

"Hi?" Olivia said tentatively, waving slightly.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ms. Blake. I'm afraid when we first met, there wasn't much of an introduction." His wheelchair rolled over to her and he stuck out a hand, which she shook for a moment before dropping it. "I'm Dr. Wells. Dr. Harrison Wells."

* * *

Olivia walked down a long hallway, Dr. Wells rolling along next to her in his wheelchair. They had been moving in silence for a few minutes when they reached the balcony overlooking the remains of the particle accelerator. She stared down at it, mouth open wide in shock at the destruction, and the question she had been itching to ask bubbled out.

"So, what exactly happened?" she rushed out, standing still and letting Harrison pass her.

"Well… one months ago, the particle accelerator went on, perfectly functional, for 45 minutes my life's dream was fulfilled. Then… then there was an anomaly," he admitted, turning his wheelchair back around to face her. "The electron volts became unmeasurable, the ring under us popped, releasing energy into the sky, which somehow made you comatose, and created a storm cloud whose lightning bolt struck Mr. Allen. 17 people died, and I, like you and Mr. Allen, was among the many that were injured. Now, S.T.A.R. Labs is no longer operational, since FEMA recently categorized it as a Class 4 hazardous location."

Olivia cocked her head to the side, confused. "I have absolutely no idea what more than half of that meant." she declared, looking back down at the charred metal far beneath her.

Dr. Wells sighed, and turned back down the hallway. "There was an overload of energy, making the accelerator explode. That overloaded energy created a storm, which led to Mr. Allen being struck by lightning and the both of you ending up in comatose states."

"Oh. Okay, I get it. So it was kinda like a fuse getting blown?" she compared, following the doctor.

"On a much larger scale, yes, I suppose so." he conceded.

Arriving back in the lab room with the beds, Olivia was shocked to see Olive and Eddie talking anxiously with Caitlin and Cisco. Both were rumpled and messy, like they had thrown on their clothes in a hurry, without even attempting to look somewhat presentable. They both looked up at the sound of Dr. Wells' wheelchair rolling in, and seeing Olivia, they rushed over and tackled her with a strangle-hold of a hug.

Pulling back after a minute, they looked her over worriedly. "Are you okay?" Olive asked anxiously, squeezing her in another hug.

"Fine…" she gasped, "Just… can't… breathe…"

"Oh, sorry," her sister apologized, releasing her.

Eddie smiled and rubbed Olivia's head, messing up her hair. "We were so worried about you, Livvy!" he said. "It's great to see that you're okay."

Olive grinned wildly, tugging on her sister's hand. Sobering up after a moment, she punched her in the shoulder.

"What was that for?" Olivia squeaked, rubbing her arm.

"Don't you dare ever do that again!" her sister scolded. "Do you have any idea how scared for you I've been? I gained, like, _five pounds_! And I _never_ do that!"

"Yes, sister, I promise to never again be mysteriously knocked into a coma that was in no way my fault," Olivia said sarcastically, smiling dryly.

"You'd better not- wait, Livvy, where are your hearing aids?" she asked worried. "You're not wearing either of them! You're hearing me, right? Not just reading my lips? How is this possible?!" she exclaimed quickly, shocked.

"Wha- I don't have my hearing aids?!" she said in surprise, reaching up to her ears and confirming it. There was nothing there. "How… how is this even…"

Caitlin stood up and walked over from the desks. "Is everything okay?" she asked, looking around the small circle of three.

"Livvy doesn't have her hearing aids, but she's hearing us perfectly well." Eddie explained.

"What?" Caitlin responded, eyes wide, surprised. "I wasn't even aware that Olivia needed any sort of auditory aid."

"Hi, yeah, I'm right here." Olivia interjected. "And yeah, I have hearing aids, I've needed them since I was seven. I had an ear infection that wouldn't get better, and now I'm completely deaf without them. Or at least, I _should _be."

Caitlin pulled out an otoscope and looked in both of Olivia's ears. "There's absolutely no damage to the canal or ear drum. I could take some tissue sample and some X-rays to be sure, but I'd say just from looking at this, you don't have any hearing impairment whatsoever. In fact, your ear seems to be in better shape than the average person's."

Harrison slid up in his wheelchair. "Perhaps the energy from the shockwave somehow melded with your hearing aid and transferred its crucial… shall we say, _properties_, to your own ears."

"Is that even possible?" demanded Olive.

"I don't know… it's just a theory."

"Well one thing's for sure." Olive declared. "You're not getting out of my sight, Livvy. And guess what that means?"

Olivia groaned, covering her face with her hands in embarrassment and dread.

"Roommates!" squealed Olive, grin stretching across her face.

* * *

Olivia grunting, lugging her suitcase and a duffel bag up the stairs to her sister's apartment. Arriving at the door, she pulled out her new key and unlocked the door, pulling inside the two bags. She shoved them against the wall by the doorway next to the cardboard boxes of her stuff.

Heading back down the stairs, she picked up the second-to-last box and attempted to balance the small one on top, the stack teetering from side to side.

"Here," a male voice with a southern accent called out. "Let me help you with that."

The two boxes were pulled from her arms in an instant, then the smaller one was back in her hands. A young man with dark sandy blonde hair was carrying the bigger one, smiling at her.

"Thanks," Olivia puffed out, turning to the stairs and starting to walk up to the apartment.

"Gee, Olive, I didn't realize you were getting a new roommate. Why isn't she helping you with her stuff?" the man asked, a few steps behind her.

Confused, Olivia turned around to face him. "Uh, I'm not Olive. Twin sister here. Olivia."

Comprehension lit the man's face. "Oh, that makes sense. Sorry I got you two confused, but you look exactly alike."

"Yeah, easy mistake to make if you haven't met us both. We look the same, comes with being identical twins, but are personalities… _Way_ off."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know Olive. Perky, excited, hyper, loves science. I'm the more artsy one, being a photographer and all. More… um… calm and logical, I guess."

"Good know."

"Aaaaand, we're here." Olivia finished, setting down her box. "You can just put that by the rest of 'em. Thanks for the help, by the way."

"Just being neighborly. I live up on the third floor." he said, walking back to the stairs.

"Hey, you never told me who you are!" she asked him.

"The name's Jesse!" he called back, stepping quickly up the flight of stairs.

Olivia smiled and turned back towards the apartment. She walked inside and scanned the room. it was a living room with a couch and a TV, along with a coffee table. It was connected to a small kitchen with a stove, oven, microwave, and sink, plus a dishwasher and plug-in appliances, like the toaster and the fancy, state-of-the-art coffee maker.

She walked down a hallway off of the kitchen which had four doorways. One led to a small bathroom with a toilet, sink and shower and another to a study with a long desk and a computer, along with a tall bookshelf in one corner.

The other two each led to a bedroom, one with soft yellow walls and cheerful white furniture, the other with the walls painted a dark blue with natural brown wood furniture. Olivia smiled, glad her sister knew her so well. She jogged back to her pile of boxes and bags and picked up her duffel and her suitcase, carrying them back to her room. She began to bring all of the boxes into the darker room as well, getting them inside before she began unpacking.

Olivia was almost done putting away her clothes in the closet and dresser when she heard the front door click open then slam shut.

"Livvy!" her sister called "You here? I can help you with unpacking if you'd like!"

"Sure," she answered. "I'm in my room!"

She heard the pattering of quick, excited footsteps moving down the hallway then Olive burst into her room.

"Oh, isn't this just the best, Livvy? It's like we're kids again!" she exclaimed, grabbing the stuffed pikachu from her sister's bed and squeezing it.

Olivia snatched it back and set it carefully back on the pillows. "Sure. But I still have to get my computer set up. I have a bunch of pictures I have to edit for tomorrow."

"So Lola _did_ let you come back to work, after all!"

"Yeah, I just had to remind her that I'm really the only competent photographer at the studio, and she rehired me before I even get to the blackmailing part."

"_Now_ aren't you glad I've created a revenge and manipulation binder?" Olive asked, smiling deviously.

"Well, it did come in handy this time. But I'm still going to find it and burn it, at least for my sake if I ever cross you somehow."

"Oh, sister, I wouldn't dream of doing anything to _you_!" Olive deflected innocently.

"Whatever. You can organize my books on the shelf in the study, it's the box with the '4' on it, I know you get some kind of thrill out of stuff like that."

* * *

It was the middle of the night, and Olivia's room was completely black. She shifted in her bed, unable to fall asleep.

"Maybe sleeping for a month straight makes me not need rest for a few weeks." she mused aloud, sitting up in bed.

She opened her hands to reach out and turn on the lamp at her bedside when a quiet whine sounded and the light bulb shattered with a sharp tinkling noise. Confused, she slid out bed and looked at the lamp. The bulb was smashed as if someone had slammed it against a hard surface, glass scattered all over the nightstand.

Olivia moved to her small bookshelf to grab her flashlight when the same high pitched whining, sonic-sounding noise rang out, followed by the tinkle of half of her glass figurines on the shelf shattering.

Olivia looked around the room for the source of the noise, but found nothing. Slowly, the gears in her mind clicked as she realized that the sonic noise breaking the glass could be coming from nowhere else but _her_.

* * *

**Dun dun dun dun… **

**LIVVY'S DISCOVERED HER POWERRRRRRSSSS! :D**

**Next chapter will be going into them in more depth, so if they don't make sense now, the should by then.**

**I hoped you like it! Please let me know what you thought :D **

**Review, favorite, follow, all would be appreciated! :)**


	5. Chapter 4 - Revelations

**So.**

**The mystery of the powers was revealed.**

**Going into more depth with 'em in this chapter, plus some Iris and Livvy bonding tiiiiiime!**

**To answer Daiseymaemari-25's question, Olivia's powers **_**do**_ **have some similarities to a banshee's, but she has other powers too, as you will soon discover. *rubs hands together evilly and smirks***

**Enjooooooooyyyyyy! :D**

* * *

_Previously on Crescendo:_

_Olivia moved to her small bookshelf to grab her flashlight when the same high pitched whining, sonic-sounding noise rang out, followed by the tinkle of half of her glass figurines on the shelf shattering. _

_Olivia looked around the room for the source of the noise, but found nothing. Slowly, the gears in her mind clicked as she realized that the sonic noise breaking the glass could be coming from nowhere else but _her.

* * *

Olivia stood in an abandoned parking garage, glass bottles collected from recycling bins lined up in front of her. She glared at them with accusing eyes, as if to say, "_I blame you for everything._"

"Come on," she snapped frustratedly, "Work!"

She thrust her palms forward dramatically and forcefully, clearly expecting some sort of reaction from the bottles. When nothing happened, she grimaced and hummed angrily, shoving her hands roughly into her well-worn cherry-red trench coat. Taking a deep breath, she cleared her mind before removing her hands from her pockets.

Settling into a relaxed stance, Olivia raised her hands out in front of herself, palms facing the bottles. She breathed in and out evenly, staying still and silent. She twitched her fingers quickly, mind full of the thought of breaking the bottles.

Suddenly, a high-pitched whining noise rang out and half of the bottles shattered, the majority of the others cracking, visible fractures appearing along the sides. Focusing just a bit more, she curled her fingers in towards her palms, increasing the volume and pitch of the noise. The remainder of the intact bottles imploded, showering glass all over the cement floor of the parking garage.

Out of nowhere, a catchy melody rang out, repeating after a moment. Olivia turned around and reached in her bag, sitting down cross-legged on the hard cement floor and pulling out her phone.

"I really need to change the ringtone on this," she muttered before answering the call and bringing the phone up next to her ear.

"_Where. Are. You?!_" screeched Olive. "You're should be resting or relaxing or… or… just doing something _inactive_, not gallivanting around the city, which, I might add, has _criminals_! Yeah, uh huh, and I know it for sure because if Central was crime-free, then _clearly_ Eddie would be out of a job. Livvy, you just woke up from a coma! _Two days ago_! You shouldn't even be moving around, much less leaving at an ungodly hour of the morning to 'go on a walk' as your annoyingly vague note says."

"Chill, sis, I'm not dead in a ditch." Olivia interrupted. "I told you already, I'm fine. I said it after I woke up, I said it when you helped me unpack, I said it last night, _I'm fine_."

"Oh." Olive deflated, energy draining from her words. "Well. That's good, then."

"Hey, I know you're just worried about me, Olli, but I'm a big girl now. I can take care of myself. And I can also take a walk without getting mugged, _or_ my younger sister following me around."

"Hey!" Olive protested. "Only by a few minutes!"

"Yeah, well, it made all the difference. Although right now, it seems like _you_ inherited more of the worrying genes."

Olive scoffed. "Just make sure you get home safe." she cautioned.

"Yeah, I will. Love you, Olli."

"Love you too, Livvy."

Olivia hung up and pushed herself to her feet. She gathered up all of her things quickly before rushing down the stairs of the parking garage, glancing back at the shattered bottles one last time.

* * *

Olivia pushed open the door of Jitters, slipping inside and into the line by the counter. She trained her eyes at the menu, trying to choose what to have. She had just decided when it was her turn to order.

She stepped up in front of the cashier and pulled out her wallet. "I'll have the chai latte with whipped cream, please, and a chocolate chip muffin."

The cashier, a young woman, squinted at Olivia for a moment, as if trying to remember something, before recognition lit her face. "Olive! You always struck me as more of a lemon poppyseed kind of girl, but okay."

"Um, sorry. Not Olive. I'm Olivia, and how do you know my twin exactly?" Olivia responded, confused.

"Olivia? You're awake then? Oh, that's great! I'm so happy for you! But we _totally_ need to talk." the woman turned back, looking at who Olivia assumed was in charge. "Jeremy! I am _so _cashing in that favor you owe me, now. I get the rest of my shift off to talk to my friend here, and we each get a drink on the house!"

The man just shrugged, not looking up from his phone. Squealing with happiness, Iris untied her apron from her waist and dropped it to the floor. She rushed around the counter, pushing through the line of annoyed customers until she reached Olivia, whom she quickly pulled to a vacant table.

"I'm Iris," she said as they sat down.

"Great. Um, again, how do you know my sister?" Olivia asked, confused. "And can I have my latte and muffin? Because I'm, you know, actually here for caffeine and food."

"Right! I'll go grab that for you. Sorry, just got a little distracted." Iris ran off, back behind the counter.

While she was busy, Olivia reached down into her bag for her camera. She pulled it out gingerly and set it on the table. Waiting for Iris to come back, she fiddled with the lens cap and looked through the pictures she had taken. There were some of her and her sister, others from the studio, even some of landscapes. They had all been taken from before the coma, and she seemed… different… in those pictures. Lighter. Happier. More… bright.

She was knocked out of her thoughts when Iris set down two mugs and a plate with a clatter.

"There. Drink. Eat. You look like someone just ran over your cat. _Twice_." she commented, pushing the mug filled with chai latte and the plate with the muffin towards Olivia, who quickly shoved her camera back in her bag.

"Thanks," the blonde murmured, sipping her tea and peeling the wrapper off of the muffin. "Now, story time? Iris-meets-Olive explanation?"

"Right! So. My best friend Barry, he's in a coma now. Struck by lightning on the day of the particle accelerator explosion." Iris started.

"I know," Olivia interrupted. "At S.T.A.R. Labs, they told me what happened to him."

"Okay. Cool. Well, so anyways, I went to the hospital the day after the explosion to visit him. And your sister, and Eddie, were both there. Waiting to visit _you_. I recognized Eddie, he and my dad work together for the CCPD, along with Barry, and he introduces us. Explains that you're in the hospital 'cause you're in a coma, too."

"Okay, keep going. This is getting good." Olivia said, speech muffled because of her chewing a bite of muffin.

"So they let us go see you, and you and Barry are actually in the same room. Beds right next to each other, actually. Anyways, Barry's heart," Here, Iris paused to take a deep breath, steadying her voice, "Barry's heart stops beating, right when the power goes out in the hospital. They get him going again right as the power comes back on, but because there was nothing powering it, your respirator, you know, stopped working and you stopped breathing. they got you back, though."

"Woah. I had no idea…" Olivia whispered, trailing off.

"Well, Olive probably didn't want you to freak out, but whatever. Anyways, out of nowhere, wheelchair-bound Harrison Wells appears and convinces us that you two will be safer being taken care of by his super-special scientists at S.T.A.R. Labs. We let him take you away, and Olive and I basically saw each other everyday because she stayed with you practically all day, every day, and I visited Barry whenever I could. We started talking one day, and I don't know, we just discovered me kinda had a lot in common. Friends."

Iris took a deep breath, recovering from so much talking. Olivia just sat, hands cupped around her mug, eyes wide.

"That was… quite the story." she commented after a minute.

"I know, crazy, right?" Iris said, picking a piece of Olivia's muffin off and popping it into her mouth. "God, these muffins are so, _so_, good. Oh, you have to try the cronuts here. They're de-_li_-cious!"

"Um, okay, I'll go get a few?" Olivia asked uncertainly, hopping out of her chair and into the line to the cashiers.

"Yes. Oh, you're going to fall in _love_, I tell you!" Iris sang, drumming her fingers on the table.

Olivia quickly asked the cashier for four cronuts and two glasses of water, paying by slapping a 20-dollar bill on the counter and tossing back a "Keep the change!" before walking back to the table.

"So. The wonderful cronuts." Olivia stated, setting everything down carefully.

"Eat one, Olivia!" Iris insisted, pushing the plate towards her.

"Okay, but if they're horrible, you're paying me back." Olivia picked a cronut with her fingertips, gingerly breaking off a small piece and popping it into her mouth. Her eyes widened as she chewed and swallowed.

"Those… those… are, like, the _best_ pastry I've ever had!" she exclaimed, picking up the cronut and taking a large bite.

Iris slapped the table, laughing. "I know, right? Amazing!"

"Seriously, why have I never gotten one of these before?"

"Well, we actually only started to make them on the day the particle accelerator… you know… and you've been in a coma since then, so…" she trailed off.

"Right." Olivia said uncomfortably, swallowing.

The conversation lulled awkwardly, neither one of them speaking up. Then a young blonde man walked in the door, a very familiar man to Olivia.

"Hey! Eddie! You get can your coffee and come sit with us," she called to her cousin.

"Uh, sure. Why not?" he answered uncertainly. Ordering quickly, he walked over to them and pulled up a chair, sitting down and putting his coffee on the table at the same time. An uncomfortable pause followed.

"So."

"Yeah…"

"This is awkward." declared Olivia. "Icebreaker time! Eddie, so, how's work going? Any serial killers we should be on the watch for? Escaped criminals? High-tech gangs robbing banks? Give us the details."

"Um, well, there has been a lot more unexplained deaths and missing person reports recently. Since around when the particle accelerator exploded, actually. We think it's all the panic it caused, people left town without telling people or something." Eddie explained, grabbing a cronut.

"And don't contact family here afterwards? That's weird." Iris commented, sipping her coffee.

"Well, when people are scared, they do irrational things. Fear takes hold, and they do what they think is the way to survive."

"Hm. Poetic." Olivia scoffed, snatching back the cronut from Eddie. She took a quick bite out of it and stuck her tongue out at him when he glared.

"Young and Beautiful" by Lana Del Rey began to play softly from the speakers. Olivia perked up, the entire cronut now stuffed into her mouth.

"I wif dith zun!" she said, words unintelligible through the food.

"Swallow, Livvy, swallow. _Then_ speak." Eddie instructed, laughing.

She swallowed, then opened her mouth the talk. "I love this song!" she declared. "It's 'Young and Beautiful' by Lana Del Rey, and it's just so good!" She frowned, annoyed. "I just wish it played a little bit louder, so we could actually hear it well."

Iris gave her a sympathetic look. "Sorry, Olivia. Customers don't like to have the music drowning out their conversations."

"Right," she said, sighing. "But still…"

Suddenly, the volume of the music skyrocketed, making everyone in the coffee shop groan and cover their ears. The sound was practically deafening, and everyone began to filter out of the door. Pedestrians outside stopped walking to stare at the shop, the music audible even from the street outside. Frantic workers inside rushed to find a way to turn down the volume, finally just resorting to unplugging the speakers.

Out on the sidewalk, Olivia stood in between Eddie and Iris. The shattering glass… The crazy volume increase… No, this couldn't have been her… But it must've.

Backing away from Jitters, she turned and ran down the street, needing to just… get away.

* * *

Back at the abandoned parking garage, Olivia sat, knees tucked in up against her chest, leaning against the wall, breathing heavily and rapidly. Her arms were wrapped around her legs, forehead against her knees, and she was shaking.

"I'm… I'm not having another panic attack… Not having a panic attack…" she whispered, rocking slightly forward and backward. Her heart was thumping wildly in her chest. Her head was pounding, and she felt unbalanced and dizzy. "Not having a panic attack…"

She took a few deep breaths, slowing her breathing and her heart rate. Slowly, she unfolded herself, calming down. Shakily, she stood up, hand against the wall for support. Her stomach churned, making her feel nauseous and unsteady. She combed back her hair, getting it out of her face.

"Okay," she breathed slowly. "Okay. I'm fine. Fine. Absolutely fine. Nothing's wrong. Everything's okay. I'm okay."

She moved away from the wall, stepping closer to the shattered bottles from earlier that morning. She stumbled slightly, but righted herself. Her steps grew gradually steadier until she was walking normally.

Standing before the bottles, she found one was mostly intact, and placed it farther away from herself than the others had been. She settled herself back into the relaxed stance, hands out, palms facing the bottle, before clearing her mind of all thoughts but the sonic noise breaking the bottle.

A sharp, loud, whining noise rang out, instantly shattering the bottle. Moving to face an abandoned car that had been left in the parking garage, she focused even more. The whining noise continued, cracking the glass of the car's windows before turning them to shards as well.

Olivia lowered her hands, shaking them out. The noise stopped. She walked across the broken bottles, glass crunching beneath her boots, to inspect the damage. The rear window was completely gone, the glass now in tiny pieces all over the back seat. The side windows were mostly undamaged, just cracked, and the windshield was partially broken, the edges of it remaining with the rest in shards on the hood.

Now, Olivia pulled out her iPhone, turning it on and tapping the screen a few times to get to her music library. Quickly, she chose a song and it began to play softly from her phone's tiny speakers. Setting down her phone on the concrete floor, she took a small step back before beginning to concentrate.

"Come one, 'Hall of Fame,' work with me here," she muttered, squinted her eyes shut roughly. She willed the music to get louder, palms out towards the phone, mind clear except for thoughts of increasing the volume.

Nothing happened.

Growling annoyedly, she picked up her phone and chose a different song, "Over my Head (Cable Car)" by The Fray beginning to play.

Settling back into her previous relaxed position, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to focus. She turned her thoughts towards increasing the volume of the music, scrunching her eyes in an attempt to better concentrate.

Slowly, the music grew gradually louder. Gasping, Olivia broke her concentration to jump up and down for a minute, happy and excited with her success. However, with her lapse in focus, the music suddenly returned to its previous volume.

Regaining her concentration, she amplified to music again. Holding the volume for about a minute, she then slowly lowered back to the norm. Gasping, she let go of her focus and smiled triumphantly.

* * *

Olivia jogged up the stairs to the apartment, keys already in hand. Arriving at the door, she quickly stuck them into the lock and turned, opening the door. She pulled the keys out as she shut the door, looking around the living room.

"Olive? You here?" she called out. "Sorry I didn't call, I actually saw Eddie at Jitters, and this girl said she knew you? Iris? Remember her?"

There was no answer. Shrugging, she pulled off her trench coat and draped it over her right arm, walking to her room to put it away.

Olivia pushed open her mirrored closet door, hanging up the trench coat inside. She shuffled through the clothes on the closet's hangars, grabbing the fluffy teal robe near the back. Slipping it on, she closed the closet door just in time to see, in the mirror, Jesse directly behind her, frying pan raised up above his head, before everything went black.

* * *

**Oh no… JESSE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!**

**You guys remember Jesse, right? Friendly blonde neighbor man? Yeah, him.**

**Well, you'll all find out what the heck is going on next chappie.**

**Toodles! **

**Please tell me what you thought of this chapter in a review! :D**


	6. Chapter 5 - Taken

**So.**

**Yeah, last chapter ended on quite the cliffhanger.**

**Anyways, now everything will be cleared up on that front and you'll learn more about Jesse.**

**WARNING: This chapter is kinda creepy. I mean, I wrote it, and even I'm pretty freaked out. **

**I hope you liiiiiiiiiike it! :)**

* * *

_Previously on Crescendo:_

_Olivia pushed open her mirrored closet door, hanging up the trench coat inside. She shuffled through the clothes on the closet's hangars, grabbing the fluffy robe near the back. Slipping it on, she closed the closet door just in time to see, in the mirror, Jesse directly behind her, frying pan raised up above his head, before everything went black._

* * *

Olivia groaned and opened her eyes, her head pounding. She tried to rub it with her hand, but found that her wrists were ziptied together behind the chair she was sitting in. Her mouth was sore, covered with duct tape. Her ankles ached where they were bound together tightly with rough rope. Looking down, she saw she was wearing a loose white dress and was barefoot.

With a quick scan of the room, she saw that she was in a dark and dusty room, surrounded on all sides by mirrors of all shapes and sizes: round, rectangular, antique, modern, freestanding, hanging on the wall… They went around the entire room, and even partially covered the window in front of her. Otherwise the small room was empty. But next to Olivia was Olive, slumped over, unconscious, in a wooden chair identical to her own. She was even restrained and dressed in the same way: white dress, wrists tied behind the back of the chair, mouth duct taped shut, ankles bound, barefoot.

A steady thumping noise, like footsteps, sounded from a room next door. Olivia heard a slight skidding noise before she saw Jesse pushing aside a mirror so he could get in, moving it back once he was. He turned towards the sisters with a sinister grin on his face, small barber's mirror gripped tightly in hand.

He walked up to Olive, who was still unconscious, and used a finger from his free hand to tilt her face from side to side. "Must've hit this one a little too hard," he sighed, dropping the hand and turning to Olivia. "You, on the other hand, woke up just in time. Wouldn't want you to miss your own show, now would we?" He reached a hand out to stroke her cheek, making her struggle to move her head away, but her efforts were ineffective.

He backed up, smiling. "Mirror image," he whispered, eyes wide with wonder as he stared at the two blonde girls. "Do you know how hard it is to find identical twins in this city?" he asked Olivia, beginning to pace in front of her. "No? Well, let me tell you, I've been here for over a year and I've only gotten to four pairs. I was just about to move on to somewhere else, maybe Metropolis, but then I met you. I had known that Olive had a sister, but imagine how exciting it was to learn that you two were twins! I couldn't resist. Too tempting of an opportunity, you see."

His lips curled into a threatening smile and he turned to look at the mirrors on the walls. "It's so perfect…" His voice dropped to a whisper. "A reflection. It shows to truth. Mirrors don't lie. Not like people. People lie and steal and cheat and stop death, and then they expect a thank you!" He had now taken a threatening edge to his voice, becoming sharper. "That's why I have to do this, you know. Turn people, into mirrors! Make them right. Make them tell the truth and give, not take. Stop cheating. Stop pushing life's limits."

He then laughed, tossing his head back. Olivia's eyes darted from one mirror to the next, the reflections of the scene making her panic and struggle.

"Oh, don't be like that. Don't you want to be fixed?" he whispered in her ear, making her shiver and close her eyes in disgust. He backed up and began circling the two girls.

"Now. I suppose you'll want to know why twins. 'Why can't you just take regular people, Sam—' that's my real name, you know. Jesse is just stupid, but the identity changes with each city. Gotta stay out of jail, to fix more people, you know? 'Sam, regular people lie and cheat and steal just as much as twins, don't they?'" He spoke in a scarily spot-on imitation of Olivia's voice, as if he was talking for her.

"Well I'm glad you asked Olivia. See, regular people don't have reflections unless they have mirrors. But identical twins… They _are_ reflections. Living, breathing, reflections. All they need to be mirrors is to be true. No personal agendas. No shortcuts. Just the cold, hard, wonderfully beautiful truth.

"And that's not such a bad thing, now is it, Livvy?"

* * *

Cisco sat on one the long desk's chairs, spinning it quickly, bored. Caitlin was pacing in front of Barry Allen's bed, nervously nibbling at her nails.

"Caitlin, I'm sure everything's fine. Olivia must just be running late, caught in traffic or something." Cisco said, relaxed.

"Running late by more than two _hours_? She was supposed to be here at 10 o'clock, and here we are, almost one in the afternoon!"

"I'm sure she's fine."

"Absolutely, she woke up from a coma that lasted for a month four days ago, she must be dealing with everything perfectly!" Caitlin responded sarcastically.

"Geez, Caitlin, ever since Ronnie—"

"Don't. Just don't." she cut him off abruptly, continuing to pace. "I'm going to call her."

"Already tried that, I think her phone's dead." Cisco called.

"Fine, then what's her sister's number?"

"Uh, what makes you think I would have Olive's number? I mean, um, we're not dating or anything." Cisco babbled, losing his nonchalant and relaxed attitude.

"Um, Cisco, because she gave it to us when we brought Olivia here to monitor her better?" Caitlin said, eyebrow raised questioningly.

"Right, right," he muttered, turning on the computer and quickly going to the records to find the phone number. "Okay, it's 816-478-3496."

"Got it!" Caitlin responded, typing the number into her phone. It rang and rang, but no one picked up.

"_Hi! This is Olive. Leave a message if you're desperate or this is an emergency, and if not, then whatever you want to tell me doesn't warrant my attention being taken from obviously awesomer things. Toodles!_"

"She's not picking up." Caitlin said anxiously.

"Neither of them are."

"Ready to admit something's clearly up?"

"Okay, something is really not right here."

* * *

Jesse, or Sam, Olivia supposed, had left the room again, taking with him his barber's mirror. She grimaced, twisting her wrists, trying to get out of the zipties. She struggled against them, twisting her arms in a way that made her want to gasp in pain. Finally, after a moment of wiggling her hands, the ties slipped off and she brought her hands in front of herself, rubbing her sore wrists. She quickly untied the rope around her ankle and peeled the duct tape off of her mouth. Trying to be silent, she nudged the mirror blocking the door to the room out of the way and slipped through.

The next room was surprisingly normal, with a futon and TV, and coffee table in between. Eyes darting around the room, she quickly spotted a landline phone on the coffee table. Dashing over to it, she quickly dialed 911 and waited anxiously.

"911, what's your name and emergency?"

"My name's Olivia, Olivia Blake. I- I was kidnapped," she whispered, eyes looking around the room to make sure Sam wasn't there, voice hoarse from disuse. "By a guy in my apartment complex, named Jesse, I think he left and I got to the phone."

"Okay, Miss, do you know where you are?"

"No, maybe his apartment, I don't know, please you have to come quickly, he has my sister, too, and s—"

She was cut off by Jesse, who had grabbed the phone from her hand and hung up.

"Oh, that was a mistake, Livvy. You really shouldn't have done that." he said, voice stone cold as her dropped the phone and rushed at her.

* * *

A officer at a desk at the CCPD Precinct hung up the phone, quickly standing up and rushing into the Captain's office.

"Excuse me, could you _please_ kn—"

"Captain Singh, we just got a call. A kidnapping victim by the name of Olivia Blake, says she was taken by a man from her apartment complex, and he has her sister, too."

Standing up, the captain sighed. "This is bad."

"Emergency, yeah, someone hung up the phone on her, probably her captor."

"Yes, but Olivia and Olive Blake are Detective Thawne's cousins."

"Oh, god, that's awful." the officer commented. "I—Should we tell him?"

"We have to." Captain Singh said grimly. "He has a right to know."

The officer and the captain walked over to Eddie's desk, faces somber.

"Captain, uh, Detective West isn't here, I'm covering his shifts for him, foster son, Mr. Allen, is in a coma." Eddie said, standing up when he noticed them stopping at his desk.

"That's not it, Detective, we have a kidnapping victim that just called us."

Rushing to grab his coat and his gun, Eddie walked out from behind his desk. "Can we trace where the call came from?"

"That's not all, Eddie." the officer said sympathetically.

"The kidnapping victims… they're your two cousins, Olivia and Olive." the captain revealed.

* * *

Olivia struggled against Sam, who was pulling her back into the mirror room. "No! Let me go, please! Help!" she screamed.

"Shut _up_!" he hissed, knife against her throat. He shoved her back down into her chair and quickly ziptied her hands again, this time tying them together a few extra times and attaching her hands to the chair itself. Moving swiftly, he bound her ankles together with the fallen rope, doubling the complex knots and adding some to connect them to the chair as well. He slapped more duct tape over her mouth.

Backing up, he studied the two sisters, Olive now stirring slightly, before turning down two his knife. Dropping it as if disgusted, he grabbed his small mirror and smashed it with his fist, ignoring the blood now running down his knuckles. Picking out a large, sharp, shard, he held it in his hand reverently.

"Much better," he muttered, running his fingers down the smooth side. He examined Olivia carefully, before glancing back down at his makeshift knife. Making a quick mental decision, he readjusted it in his hand, still overlooking the blood dripping from his hand, before taking the sharper edge and slicing it across Olivia's right upper arm, making it bleed and her eyes widen in pain.

"Aww, look what you made me do!" Sam complained. "Now I have to fix your precious twin here, too. Wouldn't want your reflection to lie, would you?"

He quickly added the extra bindings to Olive, then shook her awake. Fluttering open, her eyes quickly darted around the room frantically. Once she finally noticed Sam standing over her with his glass, it was too late, for he had just struck, slicing her left upper arm, making her stare at the cut in shock.

"Now, to make you see your reflections!" he declared happily. He grabbed Olivia's chair and turned it about 90 degrees, in Olive's direction. Deciding that to be good, he rotated Olive's chair to face her sister, making the two feel as if they were staring at their reflections in a mirror.

Sam gripped his glass shard more tightly, readjusting his fingers. "Let's make you match," he said in a sinister voice.

* * *

Eddie was pacing frantically in front of a techie's desk, thoughts rushing quickly through his head. Olli and Livvy… kidnapped? It just didn't make sense, he just couldn't get it to stick in his brain. They just couldn't be… taken. Or worse, de—No, no he wasn't going to think like that. They weren't gone. They _had_ to be alive.

"Got it!" call the techie. "The call came from… the apartment building on 5th and Sherwood."

"That's their building…" Eddie breathed, leaning over the techie's desk to stare at the map he had pulled up. Straightening himself up, he composed himself. "Any way you can tell which apartment or part of the building it came from?"

"Uhh…" the techie hesitated. "I guess I could check and see which of the tenants got a landline."

"Do that." snapped Eddie.

Quickly, the techie, who seemed to be fresh out of college, surprisingly young, tapped at the keys, clicking the mouse every few moments. After about five minutes, he arrived at a list of the people with landlines.

"Got it! We have a Miss Emily Plume, a Mr. and Mrs. Reid Hathaway, a Mr. Jesse Kathor, and a Miss Abi—"

"Wait, stop. That one. Jesse Kathor. Where's his apartment?" Eddie questioned, pointing to the name on the list.

"Uh…" Eddie waited impatiently for the kid to tap a few keys. "Third floor, apartment number 11."

"That's him." Eddie insisted, tapping the screen. "That's our guy."

* * *

Olivia's eyelids drooped, blood loss making her sluggish. Olive had already passed out, head leaned against the side of her chair. Sam was staring at them with a creepy look of satisfaction lighting up his eyes.

"So perfect," he whispered. "Exactly the same. Mirrored. True reflections."

Olivia shifted in her chair, but nearly shrieked in pain, the duct tape covering her mouth stopping her. She had slices all the way down her arms, a serious stab wound in the right shoulder and a deep gash on her right side, as well as long vertical cuts on her calves. Olive had the same injuries, only mirrored. She was bleeding heavily, and felt so tired. Almost too tired to fight anymore.

Almost.

Suddenly, a crash could be hurt from the front door, followed by a swarm of stomping footsteps entering the room adjoining the one with the mirrors. "CCPD!" a voice yelled out. "Come out with your hands up!"

Sam swore softly but harshly and gripped the shard of glass, now slick with the twins' blood as well as his own. He covered both of the girls' mouths with his hands as a precaution, even though there was extra duct tape preventing them from making noise.

Wiggling her hands, Olivia struggled to concentrate. She racked her brain for a way to signal the police where they were, before an idea slipped into her mind.

Stretching her fingers, she closed her eyes to try and concentrate. Focusing her thoughts towards creating a sonic noise, she flexed her fingers. Out of nowhere, the high-pitched whining noise Olivia had become somewhat accustomed to creating rang out, fluctuating in volume before steadying and shattering all of the mirrors, showering the floor with shards of glass.

Hearing this, the officers rushed towards the mirror room and kicked down the door. "Put your hands where I can see them!" said a familiar voice. Eddie pointed his gun at Sam, making him hesitate, but let go of the girls. He raised his hands slowly, but grinned maniacally and threw his shard of glass at a nearby officer with deadly accuracy, striking his heart and making him drop to the floor. He rushed at the remaining officers, including Eddie, scooping up shards of glass from the floor. He was about to throw them when Eddie shot him in the leg, making him fall to the floor.

"The gun isn't just for show, idiot." Eddie said in a cold voice, rushing to free the girls while another officer cuffed Sam. "I need paramedics out here, now!" he ordered urgently when he saw the state Olive and Olivia were in.

"Come on, you two," he whispered as Olivia's vision began to go dark around the edges. "Just hold on, help is on the way."

* * *

An annoying beeping noise woke Olivia, making her snap open her eyes. She was in the hospital, Eddie sitting down in a chair next to her bed, looking her over.

"Hey," he whispered when he saw her eyes were open. "Don't freak, you're at the hospital."

"Great, waking up with a heart monitor hooked up to me three times in less than a week." she joked, gasping with pain when she tried to sit up.

"God, Livvy, don't _move_! You were kidnapped and tortured by a serial killer less than 48 hours ago." Eddie said, trying not to laugh.

"I was asleep for that long?" she asked, wincing when she yawned.

"Yeah, Olli too. She woke up about an hour ago. Iris, you remember her? Yeah, she's with her. Apparently they're really close friends now or something?"

"That's Olli. Making everyone around her want to be her BFF."

"Well, I think that you are the one and only person who can say that they're Olive Blake's best friend."

"Well, it comes with being twins. You're kinda forced to practically everything together."

Becoming more serious, Eddie scooted his chair closer to her bed. "Livvy, you have to tell me everything you can remember about your kidnapping. I know you won't want to, but it's really important so we can make sure this guy is found guilty at his tri—"

"I'll talk." Olivia interrupted. "Record it or whatever, I'll even testify. I just want that scumbag locked up for good."

"Okay. Just tell me what you remember for now."

"Well, I went home, what was it, three days ago? Anyways, I saw Jesse, or Sam, whatever his name is, with frying pan behind me, then I blacked out. I woke up in that room with all of the mirrors, and Olive was unconscious next to me, and the guy just starts monologuing about mirrors and how they 'don't lie' and he finds twins so he can 'turn them into reflections' or something really messed up like that. Then he left for a while and I got out of my zip ties and called the police, but he caught me, and tied me back up again, then he woke Olive, then he just started to _cut_ us_,_ saying he was '_fixing_' us…" she blurted out, but then began trail off as the pain and fear came rushing back to her.

"Yeah, when we brought him in, he kept yelling about being a 'Mirror Master' and how he would shows all how our 'reflections would destroy us.' It honestly made me want to punch him in the face."

"How's Olli?" she said uncomfortably, quickly changing the subject. "Is she gonna be okay? Am _I_ going to okay?"

"You guys are going to be fine. You'll have to stay in the hospital for another week or so, then you can go home, but no serious exercising for a while, for either of you." Eddie said, eyes sympathetic.

"I don't care." she murmured. "As soon as I'm better, I'm _so_ taking a million martial arts and self-defence classes."

"You do that," Eddie commented, smiling.

* * *

Olivia winced as she pulled on her shirt, her wounds hurting like crazy. She readjusted her uncomfortable bandages slowly, trying not to reopen her cuts. She walked over to her new desk, a gift from Iris, ever the enthusiastic friend. She sat down and picked up a pencil and paper, quickly sketching out an drawing of herself.

She tapped the eraser end against the paper thoughtfully. An idea popping into her mind, Olivia quickly drew on a pair of black pants, like skinny jeans, only made of a material more like leather. She added a pair of black ankle boots with a small heel and a pair of dark magenta elbow-length fingerless gloves. Studying the drawing for a moment more, she added a buckled corset with straps, colored with the same black and dark magenta as the pants and gloves. Examining it quickly, she decided it needed one final touch: a black domino mask, covering just her eyes.

Olivia had to help people, had to save them from people like the crazy "Mirror Master." But she couldn't do that as herself. As Olivia Blake, once-deaf fashion photographer.

No, to help the people of this city, she needed to be more than just a person.

A hero.

Crescendo. Sound-manipulating superhero of Central City.

* * *

**So, uh, yeah! Jesse (real name Sam Scudder) was meant to be my (creepy) version of Mirror Master. Instead of being able to travel through mirrors (or whatever that guy does), he's a serial killer obsessed with mirrors and reflections and twins.**

***shivers* **

**AND LIVVY'S GONNA BE A SUPERHEROOOOOO! :D :D :D **

**I do hope that you enjoyed this chapter! Please tell me what you thought :D**


	7. Chapter 6 - Origins

**So! I see most people were kinda freaked out by the last chapter (sorry about that, btw), and there were some questions about Olivia's powers. That's going to come up in the next few chapters (because we're now in the 'training-to-kick-criminal-butt' stage of the story), just so you know.**

**I hope you enjoy Chapter 6, which is mainly some snippets of Olivia's life now in Central: some hero preparing, some Iris-and-Eddie harassing (ft. Olive!), some (kinda creepy) studying of Barry's babyface, some awesomeness (or at least I hope)...**

**PS: I did some research for the martial arts classes so it wouldn't be totally obvious I've never learned any sort of martial arts, but if I was inaccurate with something, please point it out so that I can fix it :)**

**PPS: This chapter is kinda full of random mostly-unimportant OC's, so don't expect a lot of appearances out of them.**

Although I have plans for Logan. *rubs hands together and grins evilly*

* * *

_Previously on Crescendo:_

_Olivia had to help people, had to save them from people like the crazy "Mirror Master." But she couldn't do that as herself. As Olivia Blake, once-deaf fashion photographer. _

_No, to help the people of this city, she needed to be more than just a person._

_A hero._

_Crescendo. Sound-manipulating superhero of Central City._

* * *

Olivia sat crossed legged on the edge of the dojo's training area, in the middle of a small group of people about the same age. She was wearing a pair of capri exercise pants and a comfortable T-shirt, and her long blonde hair was in a high ponytail. Listening attentively to everyone chatting around her, she waited patiently for her first karate class to begin.

From a door at the corner of the room, in walked a japanese woman who seemed to be in her early thirties. She was wearing a loose white top and pants, completed by a black cloth belt tied around her waist. Her short dark hair was held out of her face by a pair of bobby pins and she was barefoot.

"Class!" she said authoritatively, shocking everyone out of their conversations and practically pulling them into a standing position. "My name is Keiko Ito, but you will call me Sensei Ito or just Sensei. I'm here to teach how to defend yourself using traditional japanese karate techniques. This is _not_ a class to learn how to beat someone up–I'm not here to sanction violence. Today, you're going to be learning some basic stances. I'm warning you, class is going to be repetitive. You're going to be repeating the same motions, over and over. Learning a martial art, or anything else for that matter, takes an incredible amount of dedication and discipline. If you start whining about something completely unwarranted, I _will_ ask you to leave, at least until your attitude doesn't make a perfectly rational, sane, and level-headed adult want to murder you. Got it?"

"Uh, yes Sensei Ito!" the class called in unison.

"Good. Now, everyone, go stand on the mats in rows of five. Make sure that you don't bump into anyone when you stretch out–that means at least a meter of space on either side! Stagger yourselves, too–it's important that you all be able to actually see what you're supposed to be doing."

Everyone rushed to comply, struggling for a moment to get into the lines before straightening out. Olivia ended up in the second row, on the right side. Sensei Ito walked to the front of the class and turned to face them, hands linked behind her back. She swept her eyes over the class quickly before nodding her head in satisfaction.

"At the beginning of each class, we'll spend 10 to 15 minutes stretching to warm up, then afterwards we'll practice for about 45 minutes. You'll then have a 10 minute break to rest and get some water, then for the last 45 minutes you'll be practicing again. Then we'll close with five more minutes of stretching." she announced, bringing her arms to her sides and shaking out her hands. "Today, we'll skip the beginning stretches. The first thing you'll be learning are the basic stances. From there, we'll move on to some simple punches, if we have time today. If not, that'll come up next class."

She brought her heels together and turned out her toes, bending her knees slightly. "This is called the musubi-dachi stance. It's used to perform the respectful bow." Demonstrating, she bowed quickly and deeply. "That's how you'll be greeting me each class. Now you try."

Quickly, the class began to copy her previous movements. Olivia scooted her heels closer together and wiggled her toes outward, until they were at about a 45° angle. She bent her knees slightly then bowed swiftly.

For a little less than a hour, Olivia and the rest of the class studied as Sensei Ito demonstrated stances, then they copied them, getting the simple ones done easily and spending a bit more time practicing the more complicated ones. Sensei Ito walked around among the students while they practiced, correcting peoples' faulty stances and nodding at the ones who did them well.

During the 10 minute break, Olivia walked over to the water fountain and took quick drink, accidentally bumping into a young man in line behind her when she walked away.

"Hey, I'm Logan." he introduced himself, smiling and holding out his hand, which she shook warily before dropping. "You know, you're really good at this." he commented, stepping out of the line to follow her back to the main room. "I mean, these stances are the easier part of karate, but still. I saw Sensei Ito almost smiling at you when you did the renoji-dachi stance."

"Absolutely," muttered Olivia, walking just a little bit faster. "I'm sure you're not just trying to get me to go out with you."

"Hey, what's your problem?" he said, annoyed. "I'm just being nice."

She turned around on her heel, eyes sparking angrily. "Last time I met a friendly guy, he turned out to be a sociopathic and insane serial killer who kidnapped me and my sister and almost killed us while muttering about the perfection of mirrors. So forgive me if I'm a bit cautious around strangers."

Logan backed away slightly, eyes wide. "Woah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… Well, sorry."

Olivia sighed, shaking her head as if to banish those memories. "No, I'm sorry. Obviously, not everyone is a psycho. Can we start over? I'm Olivia."

"Well, Olivia, it's nice to meet you. I'm Logan."

"Nice to meet you t—"

"Class! Get back into your rows, we're finishing up the basic stances!" Sensei Ito called.

* * *

Olivia stretched and leaned over to pick up her bag that was resting on the floor of the dojo. She pulled the strap over her shoulder and shuffled around for her phone and earbuds. Fishing them out, she plugged the earbuds in and put them in her ears. She turned on her phone and tapped the screen, entering her passcode and going straight to her music library. Pressing shuffle, she called out her goodbyes to the people from the karate class that she had befriended before walking out of the dojo.

Olivia walked down the street, humming along to her music. She made her way to Olive's apartment quickly, as it was only a few blocks away. Skipping up the stairs, she unlocked the front door, entered the apartment, and made sure to double check that she locked it again behind her.

Sliding into her bedroom, she walked over to her closet and pulled out the hangar carrying her favorite skater dress, the blue one with the quarter length sleeves and black lace hem, tugging it off and folding it gently.

Olivia took a quick shower and put on the dress, tossing her clothes from karate class in her dirty clothes hamper. Preparing to leave, she slipped on a pair of black All-Star Converse and pulled on a tan leather jacket over the dress, then looped a fluffy white scarf around her neck for warmth.

Grabbing her messenger bag and flash drive, she swept out the door, stepping swiftly down the stairs. She sped to Jitters, pulling open the door and moving into the line for the cashiers. Once it was her turn, she ordered a mocha ("Large, because god I'm in need of caffeine") and an everything bagel ("Toasted with butter, please!"), before beginning to chat with Iris, who was ringing up her total.

"So Iris…" Olivia said, smiling. "I heard you thanked Eddie for covering your dad's shifts with a cup of coffee. Anything you'd like to tell me?"

Iris scowled playfully, sticking out her tongue at Olivia, who laughed and pulled out her wallet.

"That'll be eight dollars and five cents. Although I feel like I should charge at least an extra five bucks because you think that I have a thing for your cousin." Iris declared.

Smiling, Olivia slid over a five dollar bill and three ones, plus a nickel. "I don't think. I know."

"Sure, sure. Your bagel and mocha will be done in a sec."

Walking over to the to-go counter, Olivia called back, "You're going to spill about your date with him to me soon, you know!" She waited for her caffeine and food, fingers tapping rhythmically on the counter. As soon as it arrived, she scooped them up and rushed outside, pushing the door open with her shoulder.

Outside, Olivia quickly hailed a taxi and directed it to go to the photo studio on 24th and Pearl street, her work. During the drive, she drank the yummy, albeit scalding hot, mocha quickly, and munched on the buttery bagel between sips. She had just popped the last bit of bagel into her mouth when the cab came to an abrupt stop outside the studio. Passing forward the fare to the driver, she slipped out of the back, finishing up her coffee as she walked into the entryway through the front door.

"Hey Julie!" she greeted the receptionist with a smile. "I have the edited photos from the Vardinski shoot done, on the flash drive." she continued, passing the cheery brunette the drive with one hand while tossing her now-empty coffee cup in the trash.

"Ooh, thanks Olivia! Lola started really breathing down my neck about these yesterday, said that if they weren't ready soon, she wouldn't let me borrow the shoot clothes anymore. And those are, like, half of my wardrobe, so you totally saved me from a forced fashion faux pas!" Julie sang gratefully in her slightly high-pitched voice. "Oh, and they're just about ready for you in there, you're right on time, as always."

"Thanks! And it's a gift." She swept into the studio, eyes scanning the room for Lola. Spotting her by the storage closet, Olivia skipped over.

"So, today's shoot is for the Central Fashion magazine, right?" Olivia asked, stretching out a hand to help Lola grab a tripod.

"Yeah, but we _have_ to get this just right, because it's our first cover story!" Lola squealed, pulling down the tripod and leaning it against the wall before reaching in for another.

"Uh, Lola, you do realize that it's the _writers_ who, you know, _write_, the story? We just take the pictures."

Lola flapped her hand dismissively. "Details. Our work is going to be on the cover of the city's biggest fashion magazine. That's what matters. Now, you Olivia, are going to be taking pictures of this lovely model," Lola reached out and pulled a petite young woman with beautiful, long, scarlet hair out of seemingly nowhere, "Whose name is in a foreign language and therefore is nearly impossible to pronounce, but you may call her Kiki."

"My name isn't Kiki, you idiot, and it's not even in a foreign language! It's Victoria, and I'm just British!" the model snapped, eyes flashing.

"This is Olivia." Lola said to the model slowly, as if speaking to a toddler. "She'll be taking your picture." She enunciated carefully and made elaborate gestures with her hands, before she walked away, back to the entryway.

"Yeah, sorry about Lola. She has flair for the dramatic." Olivia said, sticking out her hand, which Victoria shook. "Anyways, I think we'll be using a few different backdrops, mostly some solid colors, but a few scenes, too. And you'll be wearing clothes from that rack for the shoot, you can talk to Ellie, she's the fashion consultant, about which outfits specifically. She's over there, sitting on that table." Olivia gestured across the room to Ellie, who was perched on a coffee table with a mug in hand and a grumpy look on her face.

"Thanks, Olivia, it's a bit confusing here." Victoria said gratefully, smiling.

"Well, we don't have the most organized of systems, but it suits us okay. Anyways, ask Ellie which clothes you'll be wearing, you'll want to change soon, 'cause we're going to start shooting within about 20 minutes."

"Thanks again!" Victoria called back, speed-walking over to Ellie.

Shaking her head, Olivia began to set up the first backdrop on the wall, with the help of the eager intern Samantha ("Call me Sam,") Lin. It was a long piece of pretty teal fabric, hanging from the ceiling and covering the floor, too. Once that was done, the two began to wrestle the giant tripods into place, then secured the expensive cameras on top.

Just as they were finishing up, Lola bustled back in from the front room and clapped her hands loudly, the sound echoing through the room.

"Places, everyone! Olivia, behind the camera! Kiki, get out there!"

* * *

Unlocking the door to the apartment, Olivia slipped inside, dead tired. She yawned, slipping off her coat and dropping it on the couch. She trudged into her bedroom, shoulders aching from the heavy bags she was carrying. On her way home from work, she had gone to the fabric store and bought a bunch of cloth, plus some sewing supplies and embellishments.

Dumping her messenger bag to the floor, Olivia blinked her eyes tiredly and started to get to work. She had already bought the pants and the boots for her costume, and she had found a specialty clothes maker through one of Lola's contacts that was putting together the corset exactly to specifications, but she still had to make the mask and the gloves, which were easy enough to do on her own.

She pushed her bedroom door closed and pulled out the dark purpley-pink fabric from her shopping bag. Quickly, Olivia took her hands' measurements and drew out the patterns for the gloves on the back of the fabric. Glancing up at the clock on the wall to make sure that Olive wouldn't be home for at least a few hours, she cut out the pieces of the gloves as close to the pattern as possible.

Swooping over to the new sewing machine on her desk, Olivia put in the thread, the one the same color as the gloves, and began stitching together the glove pieces, one by one. Once one was completely put together, she worked on the second one, finishing quickly.

She fished around in the shopping bag for the padding, bringing it up next to the gloves. Eyeballing the measurements, Olivia cut out the padding to fit on the knuckles of the gloves. Using a needle and the dark magenta thread, she sewed those small bits into the inside of the gloves' knuckles. Finally, she turned the gloves inside out to hide the stitches, showing her her work.

Olivia now had a pair of dark magenta fingerless gloves that went up to just past her elbows, perfectly suited to her and matching the rest of the costume she had begun to piece together.

Pulling the black skinny pants out of the back of her dresser and the ankle boots out of her corner of her closet, she quickly pulled on the pants and slipped on the boots. Trading out her dress for a black tank top, Olivia pulled on the gloves to see if they fit. And they did, perfectly so. Looking at herself in the mirror, she smiled. All that was missing was the right top and the black domino mask.

* * *

Olivia sat at a table at the corner of Jitters, drumming her fingers on the table as she sipped her extra-cinnamon-y chai latte, waiting for Olive to show up and for Iris to go on her break. She check her email, bored, and answered the important messages and made a mental note to respond to the rest before Olive pushed open the front door of the coffee shop and made her way to Oliva's table, sitting down with a smile.

Iris, noticing the twins sitting there, giving her impatient looks, sighed and untied her waist apron, balling it up and tossing it in her manager's face, who caught it but continued fiddling with his phone.

"Jeremy, I'm going on break." she said to him, stepping around the counter. She walked over the sisters' table and sat down with a look on her face that said she knew she would sincerely regret this later.

"So? What's up?" she sighed, knowing exactly what they wanted to talk about, yet wanting to avoid the subject entirely.

"What's up? What's _up_?!" Olive hissed. "What's up is that you and Eddie totally went on a coffee date—"

"And probably more romantic ones since then," added Olivia, knowing look on her face.

"—and you still haven't told us about it! We're your _girlfriends_, Iris, and he's our cousin. _We want to know everything_."

"That's the problem!" Iris groaned, throwing her hands up in the air. "I'm your friend, and he's your cousin, so it's really awkward to talk about the two of us going on a date with you!"

"Aha! So you _do_ admit that it was a date!" Olive said triumphantly, grinning.

"If it helps, he's really more like an older brother," Olivia interjected sympathetically.

Iris sighed. "No, that doesn't help, if anything it makes it worse. But okay, fine, yes, it was sort of a date, and we've been on a few more since then—"

"Yes!" shrieked the twins in unison, which made most of the people in the shop, Iris included, glare at them, but they ignored them. "You guys went on more than one date!"

"Omigosh, have you two kissed yet? Because just so you know, I am a total Edris shipper." Olive squealed.

Olivia gave her a chiding look. "Westhawne?" Olive tried. "No? Don't worry, I'll come up with something better. You guys are definitely worth making a ship name for."

Iris' eyes flicked from one sister to the other quickly. "You two are crazy." she declared, walking back to the counter.

"You know you love us!" the two sang, picking up their things quickly and rushing out the door, whispering together conspiratorily the whole way.

"Okay, so Iris isn't really talking—" Olive declared.

"—so we'll have to go to the other source." Olivia concluded, finishing her sister's sentence.

"Eddie." she and Olivia said in unison, grins beginning to stretch across their faces.

* * *

Eddie sat in the middle of a bench in his favorite park, sipping a coffee leisurely while reading a newspaper. He stayed there, unsuspecting of the twins creeping up silently and slowly from behind, on either side of his bench, that is until they dashed out and slid down the bench, coming a stop next to him. Olive was on his right and Olivia on his left, yet he could barely tell them apart, considering they had identical scheming grins on their faces.

"Sooo…" Olive said, drawing out the 'o'. "I heard that you and Iris have been hanging out lately."

"Yeah, Eddie." Olivia added, looking up at him. "Anything you would like to tell us?"

Uncomfortable, he just shifted in his spot, trying to hide behind his newspaper.

"Oh, the silent card?" Olivia scoffed. "You can do better than that."

Still Eddie was utterly silent.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to do the talking then, Livvy." Olive declared.

"I suppose we will, Olli."

"So. We talked to Iris. She tells us that you've been on more than a few dates. We asked her if you two kissed, and by her embarrassed not-denial, we're assuming that's a big, fat, juicy, yes."

Eddie muttered something imperceptible, practically covering his face with the newspaper.

"What was that? You're going to propose tomorrow? Well, we'd better tell Iris the exciting news then!" Olivia said, pushing herself off of the bench and into a standing position.

"Wait, wait!" Eddie rushed. "Okay, okay, fine. I'll talk."

Olive and Olivia looked at each other, grinning excitedly. "Success," they hissed quietly, doing a mini victory dance.

* * *

Caitlin peeled the velcro apart, taking the blood pressure measurement off of Olivia's arm. The two were at S.T.A.R. Labs, along with Cisco and Olive, who were talking at the edge of the room.

"Well, blood pressure is normal. You seem fine to me. No residual coma after-effects." Caitlin declared, setting her tools down on the doctor's tray. "I don't think you have to come in for these weekly visits anymore, you can just drop by maybe once a month. More than four months since you woke up and you've recovered incredibly well."

"Cool," Olivia said, slipping off of the bed she was comatose in—now her examination table. She pulled her messenger bag's strap onto her shoulder, clipping and unclipping in shut repeatedly. Walking over to Mr. Allen, who was still in a coma, she studied him sadly.

"Is he ever going to wake up?" she asked softly, eyes flicking over him.

Caitlin sighed, picking up her tray of tools and moving it back into her little lab before walking back to stand next to Olivia.

"I don't know, Olivia. It could go either way." she admitted, wringing her hands nervously.

Olivia stared down at the young man's face. He was cute, she supposed, for a guy who might never wake up. He had a youthful sort of face, the kind that would get him teased nowadays, but cute nonetheless.

"Livvy?" Olive called, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Uh, yeah, Olli? Are we going now?"

"Yeah, I want to be back in time for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I've never missed an episode, and I'm not about to start now!"

* * *

Olli sat on the couch, transfixed by the latest episode of the show, slowly eating popcorn out of the large bowl by her side, one kernel at a time. Oliva was just finishing up ordering some chinese takeout to be delivered for dinner. She hung up just as the commercial break began, shaking Olive out of her daze.

"Hey, Livvy, you've got a package. It says it's from… 'Annamarie's Custom Clothing?' You got some sort of super pretty dress for a date or something?" Olive called to her sister, reaching out for a package on the coffee table.

"Uh, that's weird, I didn't order anything," Olivia lied picking the box from of Olive's outstretched arms. "I, uh, guess I'll return it to them. Mail it back tomorrow."

"Okay," Olive said, relaxed. "Ooh, ooh, wait! Shush! _Ward's talking!_ God, I love him." she continued, whispering her last sentence to herself.

"Uh, Olive, I'm actually not feeling all that well. I think I'm going to skip out on chinese food and just go to bed early," Olivia lied again, scooting towards her room. Olive just waved her hand in the air, shushing her twin.

Olivia closed her bedroom door behind her, sighing with relief. She kneeled down and quickly opened the package, pulling out the packing paper and throwing it into the trash can. Smiling, she pulled out her custom black buckled corset with straps and dark magenta top half. She held it up, studying the craftsmanship excitedly.

Standing up, Olivia hesitated for a minute before she pulled on the corset, then rummaged through her closet for the pants, gloves, mask, and ankle boots. Finding them easily enough, she slipped everything on and looked in the mirror.

It was perfect. The whole thing was complete. Her hair was loose and hanging over her shoulders, and her gloves just showed the end halves of her fingers. Olivia cracked her knuckles and looked out her bedroom window longingly. She _had_ been taking three different martial arts classes for the past two months, at least a class a day, plus self defense on the weekends, and she had been practicing her powers practically daily in the abandoned parking garage. Plus, it was dark enough out now, seeing that it was around nine at night that if she was careful, then she wouldn't be seen…

Deciding to risk it, Olivia opened her window and stepped out onto the fire escape. Shutting the window behind her almost all the way, leaving it open just a crack, she climbed up the fire escape quickly and quietly, making her way to the top before she pulled herself onto the roof.

Smiling at her success, she looked around. The buildings here were relatively close together… She could probably do it…

Olivia chose the building to her right, because the distance between was the shortest. Taking a deep breath, she backed up a couple yards before beginning to sprint. She pushed off of the edge of the building, exhaling as she did, flying over the gap between the two buildings and landing harshly on her feet, which kept running before slowing to a stop. The landing knocked the breath out of her, making her pause for a minute to recover.

Olivia grimaced, both of her feet slightly sore. She took another deep breath, running to jump across a slightly longer gap, the building she was leaping to quite a bit lower than the one she was on. When she landed, her foot slipped, making her tumble to the ground—or roof, she supposed. Groaning, she pushing herself upright, hands now stinging.

Deciding that she would fare better on the streets, not the rooftops, Olivia made her way to this building's fire escape, clambering down it silently, then dropping down onto the sidewalk. She walked down the street, sticking to the shadows. She had almost made it to a bigger street when she heard shouts echoing out of the alleyway she was passing.

"Get away from me!" a woman shrieked, footsteps indicating she was probably trying to run away.

"Shhh, shhh, pretty lady, I won't hurt you." a man's scratchy voice hissed. "Not if you hand over that fancy purse and the pretty necklace."

Alert, Olivia padded down the alley, concentrating on making her footsteps silent. She heard a few whimpers before the scene came into view: a young brunette, trembling, handing over her expensive purse to a bald man with a gun pointed at her.

Gasping quietly, Olivia took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. She could do this. She had some pretty good martial arts skills and some kick-butt powers on her side. This guy only had a gun. No problem.

Rushing out from behind her trash can Olivia stuck her hands out in front of her and concentrated, quickly creating the whining sonic noise. She twisted her fingers and directed it at the gun with the gun, making him moan and fall to the ground, covering his ears.

Olivia rushed at him, kicking him once in the stomach and in the head. But before she could again, he grabbed her foot and pulled her to the ground. She hit the concrete with a groan as the man stood up, hand shaky, but gun pointed at her.

"Now, I don't know who the heck you think you are, but I'm sure as hell going to kill you for that, you bi—"

He was cut off by Olivia pushing herself off of the ground slightly, reaching out with her foot and doing a quick but effective sweep kick, knock the man back to the ground. She quickly stood up, leaning down and delivering one strong punch to the man's nose, knocking him out cold.

The woman, trembling, having seen the whole fight, began stammering, collecting her purse. "But… Who… who are you? I-I mean, thank you, b-but do you have a n-name or something?"

Olivia shrugged, hefting the mugger over her shoulder, careful not to touch him with her fingertips, so as not to leave prints. "Just someone doing what they can to stop criminals like him."

* * *

The next day, Olivia ran into Eddie at Jitters, both of them there to get their morning coffee.

"Well, you're here late." Olivia commented. "Doesn't your shift normally start at, like, eight?"

"It was supposed to be my day off." Eddie explained, sipping his black coffee, wincing at the bitterness. "But apparently a whole bunch of criminals, like maybe a half dozen, were found unconscious, tied to the front doors of the CCPD. One of them woke up, and started screaming about a 'sonic lady' and how she 'told him to call her Crescendo.' Then the others woke up too, and they were all blabbering about the same thing: a blonde woman in purple and black, who beat them with her sonic powers, and told them to call her Crescendo."

* * *

**YES! I HAVE DONE IT!**

**OLIVIA IS OFFICIALLY FIGHTING CRIME IN CENTRAAAAAAL! :D**

***dance party***

**Forgive me for my awfulness writing fight scenes?**

**Gosh, this chapter was loooooooong. Close-ish to… wait for it…**

**5000 WORDS!**

**Longest chapter eveeeeeeeerrrrrr!**

**Well, so far, at least.**

**I hope you guys enjooooooyed! Please, please, review and tell me what you thought! I want to hear from you guys how I'm doing! :D**


	8. Chapter 7 - New

***dodges rocks and nuclear missiles thrown/launched by angry readers (AKA probably you)* Uh… Sorry? I didn't mean to take two weeks to update, I swear! But I had to go back to school after spring break, and they gave out SO MUCH WORK. Plus, I just got back from a 3-day long school trip where I didn't have the chance to write, soooo…**

**(And I might have gotten a slight case of extreme writer's block *frowny face*)**

**Anyways, that's it for slightly pathetic excuses. :P**

**I give you… CHAPTER 7!**

**Um, also, this chapter kinda includes swearing… because criminals have bad language? *"sorry don't know what I'm talking about" face***

* * *

_Previously on Crescendo:_

"_Then the others_ [the other criminals] _woke up too, and they were all blabbering about the same thing: a blonde woman in purple and black, who beat them with her sonic powers, and told them to call her Crescendo."_

* * *

Olivia ducked, dodging the mugger's punch. She twisted forwards and kicked the man, landing a hit on his stomach. He staggered backwards, growling and holding his side.

"Bitch," he swore, just in time to receive a pair of quick but powerful punches to the chest. He tumbled to the ground, groaning.

"Bitch, who totally creamed you." Olivia said, kicking the man solidly on the temple, knocking him unconscious. She reached down and pulled out a woman's clutch from his hoodie's pocket. Walking over to the alley's opening, she handed the purse back to the sixty-something year-old woman who was just staring at her in shock.

"Y-you just b-beat that man up… b-but how?" she stammered, hands shakily snapping the clutch open and closed nervously.

Olivia turned around, back to the unconscious mugger in the alley. "It's the 21st century, lady." she called back. "Time for us girls to start taking care of ourselves." She disappeared into the shadows, lugging the deadweight of a man up the nearest fire escape soundlessly.

"Thank you!" the woman yelled awkwardly, shuffling around for a moment then backing away.

"Don't mention it!" Olivia called back. She lifted the man on the building's roof, then pulled herself up. Looking down at Central City, she squinted, trying find the CCPD building. Her eyes jumped to the building's white bricks, and she smiled. Good, it wasn't too far away, maybe ten blocks.

"Although you, dear sir, could not be anymore of an annoyance." she muttered, dragging the man's unconscious form to the edge of the roof. Noting the short distance between this one and the next, Olivia shrugged and rolled the man off, letting him bounce onto the next place's roof. She followed, hopping down the few feet the drop was. Sighing, she slowly tugged him to the roof's opposite end. Squinting her eyes through the darkness, as it was around 11 at night, she moaned in despair when she noted the length of the gap between the two buildings.

Olivia frowned unhappily. This was going to take a _long_ time.

* * *

Olivia clambered up her building's fire escape, making her way the the second floor. Arriving at her bedroom window, she wiggled her fingers through the small gap she had left between the bottom of the frame and the windowsill. She pushed it open wide enough for her to slip through then shut it behind her.

Olivia stretched, lifted her arms above her head, but gasped in pain as she did. Her left side now felt like it was on fire and she bit back a moan of agony. Taking a few deep breaths, she calmed down before tugging up the hem of her corset to reveal her lower ribs and the wonderfully purple-black bruise that covered them. Poking it gently, she hissed and rolled her top back down. Not broken, but most definitely bruised.

"Damn," she hissed. "Knew that that burglar with the bat meant business."

Grinding her teeth in pain, Olivia slipped out of her clothes and changed into a pair of comfortable sweatpants and a tank top. She was about to slip into bed when she noticed the long cut running down her right bicep, slowly dripping blood down her arm. Sighing, she slid open her closet and pulled out the small medkit hidden near the back. Popping the box open, she grabbed the bottle of disinfectant and poured a little bit onto the cut, making her hiss in pain, as it stung. Shaking it off, she tucked the bottle back into its place and took a few butterfly bandages, placing them down the cut, one every inch or so. She then shuffled around, looking for the ibuprofen. Finding the bottle, she shook it and frowned.

"I'm running out of these." she murmured, swallowing a few pills dry. "Better buy some more soon."

Finished, Olivia shoved the medkit back into her closet, sliding it closed silently. She slipped into bed, pulling her blankets of her. She twisted and grabbed her phone, which lay on her nightstand. She turned it on, checking quickly her email before she pressed the power button and set it back on the table, closing her eyes and slowing her breathing, falling asleep within minutes.

* * *

Olivia stretched, smiling when her ribs didn't twinge in pain. Perfect, after two weeks of laying low, they were as good as new. She pushed herself off of her bedroom floor and changed out of her pyjamas and into a pair of comfortable jeans and a soft gray T-shirt, slipping on a pair of worn red Chuck Taylors.

Tying her long blonde hair back into a bouncy high ponytail, she went to the bathroom and quickly brushed her teeth, splashing some water on her face to wake herself up. Olivia then made her way to the apartment's tiny kitchen, opening the fridge and a few cupboards to find some milk and cereal, which she mixed together in a bowl, careful to be quiet so as not to wake up Olive. She sat down on the couch in front of the TV, setting the bowl down on the coffee table with a loud 'thunk.' She winced, internally cursing herself when she heard her sister shuffling around in her room, beginning to get up.

Sighing, Olivia scooped up a spoonful of chocolate rice krispies. She continued munching on her breakfast as Olive walked in a few minutes later, yawning and running her fingers through her hair, which was messy and tangled from sleep.

"Sorry I woke you up, sis," Olivia apologized, scraping the bottom of the bowl to get the last of the krispies.

"S'okay, Livvy." Olive mumbled, plopping down next to her twin. "Needed to… to…" She interrupted herself with a huge yawn, making her jaw crack. "Wake up soon anyways." she finished, smiling sleepily.

Glancing at the clock, Olivia frowned. "It's 7 AM, Olli. You don't wake up this early, for, well, anything."

"Gotta help Eddie." Olive mumbled, eyes drooping.

"With what?" Olivia asked, curious, as she slurped down the chocolatey milk left over from the cereal.

She was answered with a soft snore, Olive having fallen back asleep. Chuckling, Olivia made her way to the kitchen counter, dumping the now-empty bowl and the spoon into the sink and running some water over them.

Finished, she grabbed her red trench coat off of the coat rack and her bag off the coffee table, opening and shutting the apartment's front door behind her, waiting for the soft 'click' of the lock before jogging down the stairs quietly. Olivia pushed open the doors to the apartment building and walked out onto the sidewalk. She skipped over the the bus stop at the end of the block, pulling her phone out of her bag and playing a game on it when she got there, waiting for the bus to arrive.

It pulled up after a few minutes, and Olivia slipped inside and made her way towards an empty seat next to a chestnut-haired teenaged girl with a pair of chunky glasses and neon pink and blue highlights. The girl was reading her book intently and didn't look up when Olivia sat down beside her, plopping her bag onto her lap. She hummed quietly, bored, in and attempt to distract herself, looking around at the other people on the bus.

There was a pair of middle-aged women chatting quietly across from Olivia, both looking tired and sipping periodically at their coffees. At the back of the bus, a young man in a gray hoodie bobbed his head slightly, eyes closed as he listened to the music coming out of his earbuds.

The bus slowly, hissing as it came to a stop. "Sanders Avenue. Everyone getting off at Sanders Avenue, now's the time to leave," the bus driver called. Olivia pushed herself out of her seat and walked off the bus, readjusting her bag's strap on her shoulder.

The bus pulled away quickly, scattering a few fallen leaves as it did. Olivia coughed, dust filling the air, as she made her way through the desolate part of Central City. Finding the abandoned parking garage that had become her 'hideout' of sorts, she snuck inside and leapt up the stairs, arriving finally on the building's top floor.

Excitement thrumming inside, she walked towards the center of the floor. Setting her bag down, Olivia kneeled and shuffled around inside it, taking out the piece of wood and the chunk of concrete and setting them on the ground.

She backed up and took a deep breath. Concentrating hard, she held out her hands in front of her, pointed at the wood and concrete. The high-pitched whining noise Olivia had become so accustomed to rang out, threatening to shatter anything nearby, but she focused it and aimed it at the wood and stone.

The sonic noise grew louder and louder, and finally the wood gave out. Crack began to form, spidering across the entire piece, the it shattered. A moment later, the concrete followed suit, raining down dust and hard little chunks of rock after it exploded.

Smiling, Olivia lowered her hands and admired her handiwork with pride. Both the wood and the concrete pieces were in tiny bits, scattered across the ground. Even the floor and begun to crack underneath them.

Olivia cheered excitedly and clapped her hands together. Suddenly a loud "boom" echoed through the building, and the walls began to crumble slightly, dust falling from crack in the ceiling. She stared down at her hands in confusion. Did _she_ do this? But she could only change things' volumes and create sonic noises…

"My powers must be developing," she whispered, in awe of her new ability. Trying it again, she focused and clapped her hands together. The same booming noise rang out and the wall in front of her cracked and a small hole opened up. Walking over, she peered through it.

She had an amazing view of the city. She could see the tall buildings, the skyscrapers, even the CCPD building from here. Squinting, she saw little blurs, people, moving around, entering and leaving their homes and workplaces. There were cars moving up and down the streets and she could faintly hear their honking.

"Amazing," Olivia breathed, smile widening. She backed up from the wall, beginning to run. She swooped down and snathed up her bag, skipping down the parking garage's stairs, sprinting all the way to the photo studio, almost halfway across the city. Energy had filled her up, and she just wouldn't stop smiling from excitement.

Who knew what she could do now?

* * *

Even her hard day at work didn't deflate her cheery mood. Deciding to get some exercise, Olivia walked home instead of hailing a cab. She stopped at Jitters first, pushing open the coffee house's door and stepping into the short line for the cashiers. She ended up at Iris' register, smiling and bouncing up and down.

"One large latte with room for cream, please!" she said perkily, pulling her wallet out.

Iris stared at her suspiciously. "I would _not_ recommend caffeine when you're this hyper already," she declared. "I'm ordering for you. Medium chamomile tea, because you really need to calm down. You're practically bouncing off the walls. What gotten into you?"

Olivia shrugged, still smiling. She _had_ stopped bouncing, though. "I guess it's just one of those days. Oh, and I'll have an everything bagel, too. Didn't eat lunch."

"Well, you _never_ have 'one of those days' that are super happy. You should go home and rest, because you've got to be sick or something." Iris rang up the total and handed her the bagel. "6 dollars, 45 cents. Pay up, weirdo."

Olivia handed over exact change, then walked over to the to-go counter, eating her bagel as she waited for her tea. After a few minutes, it was done and sitting on the counter. She snatched it up quickly and sped out of the café, calling a quick goodbye to Iris as she left.

* * *

In the corner of the dark room with the locked door, a man was huddled, shivering but attempting to stay quiet. He held his breath as he heard a faint click, followed by a another. The door was unlocking, somehow.

Suddenly, the door flew open, slamming against the wall with a loud crash. A young girl stood in the hallway, face clear of emotion.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" she sang sweetly as she walked in, but there was an edge to her voice. Spotting the man whimpering in the corner, her face darkened.

"There you are." she whispered cruelly. Walking towards him, she raised her hand. The man, shrieking, followed her hand's movements. He flew upwards, then floated forwards, feet dangling limply in the air. The girl smiled sharply.

"Now you're going to tell me who killed my mommy." she hissed, still levitating the man. "And I might let you go home to see your family."

The man whimpered helplessly. "I don't know!" he blubbered, shaking his head vehemently. "I don't know, I never knew, no one ever knows."

"Now, that's not the answer I want to hear." the girl sang. "One more chance. Tell me who killed my mommy."

"Please, I don't know! Please!" he whimpered. "Please!"

"Too bad." the girl sighed. "It's your little girl's birthday tomorrow, it'll make her so sad."

She clenched her hands into a fist. A sickening snap echoed through the room, and the man fell the floor, eyes staring at nothing, neck broken.

"I'm never going to go back to my family, either." the girl whispered, a single tear trickling down her face. "Because someone killed my mommy," Her eyes grew dark, rage flickering inside them. "And they're going to pay."

* * *

**Creepy child with telekinesis is creepy.**

****Lame chapter is lame.****

**Meh. Yeah, I don't really like this chapter, it's bad, I know. Sorry that it's shorter than normal - 'twas a bit of a filler, plus I have writer's block, so meh, tiny baby chappie for the readers. I wanted to give you **_**something**_** (even if it was short) instead of making you wait for ages for a chunky chapter.**

**Perky Olivia is weird. I don't that'll be happening ever again, because I'm kinda freaked out. But you can't really blame her for being excited, she just found out she can create sonic booms by clapping her hands together.**

**She'll be getting more powers over the next few chapters! Just wait until we get to the voice mimicking… *cackles***

***looks up, shocked to see readers* Oh… heh heh… you guys heard that…**

**Never mind! Carry on with your lives! Livvy's totally not going to be able copy peoples' voices… *whistles innocently***

**Until next time, my wonderful internet companions! :D Olivia's going to be facing off against her first metahuman!**


	9. Chapter 8 - Views

**Thank you to all who read, reviewed, favorited, followed, and whatevered! YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST. Sorry it took me a while to update - writer's block has essentially taken up a permanent residence in my brain. Plus, I'd rather make you wait for a normal-length, passable-quality chapter, instead of updating quickly with a short and crappy one.**

**By the way, "Chapter 7 - New" started a month after "Chapter 6 - Origins" and it took place over the course of about two weeks, so it started 6 months after the particle accelerator explosion and ended 6 months and two weeks post-explosion. This chapter is about two weeks after the end of chapter 7, so 7ish months after the particle accelerator explosion (Hopefully that explanation wasn't confusing :/). Only two more months until Barry wakes up! :D**

**PS: Thank you to highlander348 for ideas (I kinda altered them but yours were the inspiration so kudos for being awesome) and to lmh2002 helping motivate me into writing this chapter (you're the best!).**

**Without further ado, Chapter 8! :)**

**EDIT: I've rewritten some of this chapter (from the part with Cisco and Caitlin and the end), so if you read the old version, make sure to check out this new one!**

* * *

_Previously on Crescendo:_

_A sickening snap echoed through the room, and the man fell the floor, eyes staring at nothing, neck broken._

_"I'm never going to go back to my family, either." the girl whispered, a single tear trickling down her face. "Because someone killed my mommy," Her eyes grew dark, rage flickering inside them. "And they're going to pay."_

* * *

Olivia sat at a table inside Jitters, slowly sipping her extra-caffeinated black coffee. She yawned, eyes drooping. Staying up late to fight Central City's crime was definitely taking a toll on her energy levels. She had begun to go out more nights each week, and staying out later besides, ever since that scientific research lab on the city's outskirts had been completely ransacked, almost every employee either in the hospital or the morgue.

She stared up at the TV high on the wall, not paying much attention to the news that was on and kind of zoning out. Suddenly, Olivia heard someone snap their fingers, then she noticed Olive, who had seated herself across the table, waving a hand in front of her face in an attempt to catch her attention.

"What?" she mumbled, brushing a hand through her hair.

"You," Olive began, pointing at Olivia, finger practically poking her nose. "Need to stop drinking so much caffeine. It's bad for you, plus coffee stains your teeth. Here, give me the cup," she tried to grab Olivia's large coffee mug, but only got a growl for her trouble.

"My precious," hissed Olivia, hunching herself over the mug. She slowly took another sip, eyeing Olive warily. As she was about to speak again, the news that was still playing on the TV caught her attention. "Hey, Olli, check it out!" she said, pointing to the screen.

"This is Leah Simmons, reporting to you live from the CCPD building. It appears that Central City's resident vigilante has struck again, managing to bring down the notorious drug lord Ivan Gregorio. The vigilante, who has been calling herself 'Crescendo' according to the Central City Police Department, has been protecting our fair city for the past two months and helped take down some of the city's biggest criminals," the reporter on screen declared as the drug lord, who had been handcuffed to the front of the building, unconscious until moments ago, was lead inside, surrounded by a small horde of officers.

The reporter continued talking, mentioning some Crescendo's other victories against crime. Olivia smiled slightly. It felt good to help her city.

"This whole 'vigilante' business is weird." Olive said, digging into a croissant that she had pulled mysteriously out of seemingly nowhere. "It's more of Starling's thing, I think. I mean, The Hood did come first."

Slightly hurt, Olivia sipped her coffee. "I think that whoever she is, she's trying to do what she can make Central a safer place," she said, defending her alter ego.

"Oh, I don't doubt that. Crescendo has done a lot to help the city. I just think… maybe she isn't a vigilante." Olive slid her chair backwards, pushing herself out of her seat as she brushed croissant crumbs off of her shirt. "I'm going to go get some more food. Want a few cronuts?"

"Do I ever not?" Olivia answered, but her mind was on other things. If she wasn't a vigilante, what was she? She definitely wasn't the police - she would leave badges and guns to Eddie and the CCPD, thank you very much.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when Olive sat back down, plunking a large plate full of cronuts onto the table.

"Yum," Olivia commented, picking up one of the pastries and biting down on it. Chewing then swallowing, she dunked the cronut into her coffee and ate the remainder quickly, sighing with pleasure when she was done.

"Yuck," Olive said, nose wrinkling with disgust as broke her cronut into small, bite-sized pieces. "I can't believe you actually enjoy that combination."

Olivia shrugged, grabbing another. "So," she prompted, wanting to hear the rest of her twin's thought on Crescendo. "If she's not a vigilante, then what if she?"

Olive's face softened, and she smiled slightly. "She's something more. A hero."

* * *

Walking into the S.T.A.R. Labs main room, Olivia smiled at Cisco and Caitlin. They were messing around with some sort of metallic object on one of the pristine white tables, and they hardly looked up as she passed.

"Scientists," she said wryly, shaking her head. She stopped in front of the still-unconscious young man, Barry Allen, and sat down in the chair beside his bed with a thump.

"Okay, Barry, you have no idea who I am, and I kinda have no idea who you are, so this is weird, but you're going to be like that friend who listens to everyone. I'll just be here, talking about random things, and you'll be comatose and maybe absorbing the words. Not creepy or weird at all.

"But anyways, I'm Olivia. Olivia Blake. About me…Hmm… I've got a twin sister, her name's Olive. From what I hear from Iris—we're friends now, by the way—you and her would get along pretty well, 'cause you're both into science. Me, I'm more artistic, I guess, being a fashion photographer and all.

"So, you were struck by lightning, huh? That's tough. I think it would be really hard to wake up from, how long has it been, 7 months? 7 and a half? Yeah, 7 and a half months of my life gone because I was struck by lightning and put in a coma. But I'm sure you'll adjust.

"You know, after the particle accelerator exploded—yeah, that happened—I was in a coma, too. Only for about a month, though. Lucky me. It's weird, 'cause I used to be deaf, but somehow my ears are all fine now. Who knows, maybe comas are cures for incurable things!

"Moving on from that! I think you've met my cousin Eddie, at least in passing. I'm pretty sure you both work at the CCPD—he's a detective, Iris' dad's partner, incidentally, since his old one was shot and killed by Clyde Mardon. Eddie's cool, we're pretty close, since when my parents died in a car crash when Olive and I were 16, my aunt—Eddie's mom— kinda took us in.

"And you, Barry? I hear you have your own little nerd lab somewhere, and that's something you totally have to show Oli—" She cut herself off from her own rambling, combing her fingers through the ends of her hair. "Wow, you are easy to talk to. We should do this again sometime. Maybe when both of us are awake. That would be fun."

Olivia pushed herself out of the chair, standing up. She reached down to Barry's hand and squeezed it gently, but let out a small gasp of surprise when she received a tiny jolt of electricity from it.

Shaking it off, she walked away and left the building after calling out a goodbye to Caitlin and Cisco (who didn't respond, still absorbed in their work), only looking back once at Barry Allen with a puzzled look on her face.

* * *

Dressed in her Crescendo costume, Olivia sat on the edge of a building's roof, her feet dangling over the edge. She leaned back and lay down against the flat stone roof, staring up at the stars, which were surprisingly unobstructed by the city's lights. Yawning, she adjusted her black domino mask and began to look for constellations.

Suddenly, a slightly familiar scream rang out from nearby. Sitting up straight, Olivia quickly lept down the fire escape and onto the streets. Heading in the direction of where she hear the scream, she thought hard about why it seemed like she had heard it before. Drawing to a stop in front of the alleyway it had come from, it clicked in her mind.

Olivia had heard that scream before, many times. She had heard it when they watched horror movies together, had heard it when Eddie snuck up and surprised them, had heard it when her finger was burnt badly, had heard it (albeit muffled) when a psychopath obsessed with mirrors stabbed her in the side.

Olive. It was Olive in the alleyway, a tall man in dark clothes trying to force her into a van, hands covering her mouth as she struggled. He held a knife to her throat, leaving a thin smear of blood on her neck.

"Hey!" called out Olivia. The man looked up, and, with a frightened look descending over his face, gestured frantically behind him. Two other men, both with high-caliber guns, came out of the darkness.

Now slightly more worried, Olivia took a deep breath and abruptly clapped her hands together in front of herself. A loud crack rang out, and the men all yelped, falling back to the ground, the two armed ones dropping their guns. The third loosened his grip on Olive, who began to struggle even more violently, before breaking free and running towards her disguised sister.

"Are you okay?" Olivia asked roughly, concentrating and using her powers to lower her voice considerably.

"Yeah, fine." Olive answered breathlessly.

"Good," Olivia growled, rushing at the men that were now recovering and beginning to get up. She ran at the first one and punched him, dodging the swipe he made with his knife. With a swift spinning kick to the head, he tumbled to the ground once more.

Turning to the other two men, she screamed at an extremely high pitch, making them fall to their knees, groaning and covering their ears. She kept on screeching, adding in her regular sonic whine. Soon, the men's ears began to bleed, and their eyelids fluttered, eyes began to roll back into their heads.

"Stop!" Olive yelled, eyes wide, pulling her back by her shoulder. "Stop it, you're killing them!"

As if knocked out of a trance, Olivia suddenly stopped, and gazed at the men as if she had never seen them before. She looked at what she had done with shock and horror, before turning and slowly backing away.

"I-I… I d-didn't…" she stammered. Hesitating for a moment, Olivia turned and ran away, sprinting into the night, leaving Olive in the alleyway with the three unconscious men.

* * *

Olivia lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling, a blank look on her face. She couldn't believe that she had done that to those men. Sure, she was fighting crime, but she never tried to kill anyone. She had just gotten so angry, so, so angry that they were hurting Olive, that she had just snapped.

Sitting up and curling into a ball, knees tucked under her chin, Olivia sighed and her shoulders slumped. Who was she kidding, trying to be a hero? She clearly wasn't cut out for it.

* * *

Olive unlocked and opened the door to her apartment, stepping inside quickly. Locking it behind her, she sighed and took off her shoes, wiggling her toes. She padded softly into her bedroom and plopped down on her bed, laying on her back with her arms outstretched.

She had just been been almost-kidnapped, again, and was saved by Central City's resident crime-fighter, Crescendo. At night like that tends to lead to a re-evaluation of one's opinions.

Crescendo had saved her life, and she did stop those men, but in way that was incredibly vicious and aggressive, something Olive had never attributed with the vigilante before.

Maybe she was wrong. Maybe Crescendo was bad news. Maybe she wasn't much of a hero at all.

* * *

The next morning, Olive and Olivia were sitting on their couch eating their breakfasts in silence. Olive, having told her sister what had happened the night before, thought her twin was simply worried for her own safety. In reality, Olivia was mentally berating herself for losing control in the alley. She couldn't believe what she had almost done—those men had almost died because of her.

The TV was on at a low volume, but something that flashed across the screen caught Olivia's eye. Grabbing the remote, she turned it up and watched the screen.

"Another genetics lab has been utterly ransacked, and the police is still at a loss as to the culprit. The laboratory, like the others, was off branch of Kord Enterprises dedicated to studying the effects of certain drugs on the human brain and was partially destroyed with a number of the employees now in the hospital. There is a reported number of 42 casualties and 15 injured. The Central City Police Department has little to say to the public about the attack, but have given a comment." a redheaded reporter stated on screen before it flashed to a shot in front of the CCPD building.

"We have determined that this was not a terrorist attack." a detective declared.

Olivia shook Olive's shoulder, putting on a fake smile. "It's Eddie! Ooh, it's his first time giving a comment on a case! This must be so exciting for him."

Olive shrugged, but began to pay closer attention to the new report.

"We are doing our best to determine who caused this. The Central City's Police Department's heart goes out to the families of the deceased and injured. That's all."

The reporter came back on screen, a serious expression on his face. "While we're sure that the CCPD is doing its best to solve this case, some are wondering if this is something that they can't deal with. Is this a problem for the police, or Central City's new vigilante: Crescendo?"

Olive quickly turned off the TV, her face darkening. "I can't deal with vigilantes today." she muttered, dumping her cereal bowl into the sink and rushing out the door.

Olivia sat stock-still on the couch, staring at the black TV screen, pondering the reporter's words. Could she do it? Stop whoever it was that was attacking research labs around the city? Not on her own, that was for sure.

* * *

Cisco's jaw dropped, the french fry he was bringing up to his mouth falling to the floor.

"You're her?! Our own Olivia Blake is Crescendo, Central City's own vigilante?" he asked, awestruck. "Okay. Okay. This is awesome. Do you have powers? Duh, of course you have powers. Criminals have been reporting to have been knocked out by "sonic noises" when interrogated about Crescendo. You. Wow. Okay. Wh—"

"This is so exciting!" Caitlin interrupted him, a grin breaking out across her face for the first time that Olivia had seen. "Imagine how you could have gotten your powers. And what they are! There has to some kind of scientific reason behind it all, of course, magic doesn't exist. If I could just—" At this point in her scientific rambling, Caitlin reached for a syringe with a very pointy needle on the end and brought it up to Olivia's arm, clearly intending to either stab her or take a sample of her blood.

"Hey, hey, woah, let's just slow down for a second here." Olivia backed up, dodging the syringe, making a frown appear on Caitlin's face. "First off, you tell no one I'm Crescendo. Nobody outside of our little circle knows, and it stays that way unless I say so."

"What about Dr. Wells? He would be an immense help in the study of your genetic material, who knows how it's been affected by your powers, your DNA may have even been altered." Caitlin asked, excited in a way only a scientist could be.

"Firstly, no, the Great and Powerful Doctor is not to know. Secondly, what? Speak English, please, not science mumbo jumbo." Olivia's face hardened. "Guys, the real reason I told is because I need your help. You've heard of the lab ransackings?"

"Yup, cameras were taken out before anything happened, police is at a loss as to the culprit. What about 'em?" Cisco questioned, continuing to eat his fries now that the shock of Olivia's revelation had worn off.

"Well… I'm trying to find out who's doing it and stop them. Obviously, it's only one person or group—I highly doubt that four different research labs studying the same thing would be attacked by different people, all within a few weeks of each other.

"Cisco, you're good with tech and gadgets, right?" He nodded wordlessly in response. "Okay, I'm going to need you to do what you can to fix up my suit. It's kind of tearing at the seams, so work your magic—"

"There's no such thing as magic!" Caitlin muttered, cutting in.

Ignoring the interruption, Olivia continued. "—on it. I've got it in my bag, so you can start right away. Once you're done, look up whatever you can about Kord Enterprises' employees at each of the labs." She turned to Caitlin. "Yes, I'm consenting to be your guinea pig, but only because I'm legitimately curious as to how I got my powers."

The scientist's face brightened, and she led Olivia to the hospital bed she had slept in for the duration of the coma, which still sat next to Barry Allen's.

* * *

"Well, just through some basic testing, I can't quite determine what caused you to get you powers— although I think it probably has something to do with your hearing aids. You say you can control volume levels of sounds, create sonic noises that can shatter glass, wood, and concrete and can incapacitate people, create sonic booms by clapping your hands together, and can manipulate the pitch of your voice, right?"

Olivia nodded, and Caitlin glanced back to her tablet. "Somehow your hearing aids repaired your ears, making you able to hear again, and gave you your abilities. If I could just consult with Dr. Wel—"

"Nope." Olivia interrupted, hopping off the bed. "Not a chance." She walked over to Cisco, who was working on her costume on the other side of the main lab. "How's it going?"

"Honestly, I'm insulted." Cisco stated, staring down at it. A look of confusion flashed across Olivia's face and her brows furrowed.

"You should have totally talked to me!"

Laughter bubbled out of Olivia's chest and she smiled. "Well, I was struggling with powers I couldn't even begin to figure out or explain, and I barely knew you, so…"

"Still." Olivia gave a him a look that clearly said, "okay, now just get on with it" and he hastened to answer her actual question. "You did a fairly good job with the rough design, for a non-geek, but I'm going to put in some light Kevlar weave and padding. Also, these boots need to go."

Olivia frowned. "But I really like those…"

"Hey, practicality comes before fashion in the crime-fighting business. At least I would think so. Anyways, I'm going to cook up some super-grippy boots for you that'll give you a bit of a boost jumping off of rooftops. You do get around on rooftops, right?"

"Yeah, but I had to take parkour classes eventually, you have no idea how hard it is. Could you make me some kind of grappling hook or something? Jumping across huge gaps between buildings is the main issue."

"Please, this me you're talking to. I already have one." Cisco rifled through the desk's drawers, smiling in satisfaction when he pulled out a small and sleek black gun-shaped object with a sort of hook on the end. "Grapple gun. It's top of the line. Made of titanium, one of the strongest metals out there, it'll definitely help you out." He handed her the gun which she turned over in her hands, studying it.

"I can definitely get you some new boots, but it'll take a few days. I'll put the Kevlar into this top, too, or even just make a whole new one, and maybe get you a proper weapon? You never know when it could come in handy." Cisco continued.

Olive nodded. "Sounds good. As for a weapon… one of my martial arts teachers showed us how to use escrima sticks, and I got pretty good. Any chance you could get me a pair?"

Cisco grinned widely, rubbing his hands together as he began mentally planning out his designs. "I'll have everything done within a few days. We'll call once it's all ready."

Olivia sighed. "Good. Can you keep looking into Kord Enterprises employees, too?"

When this was answered with an easy nod, Caitlin spoke up. "I'll keep testing the samples of blood and tissue I took from you, see if I can narrow down how you got your abilities."

Olivia smiled in relief. "Thanks guys. You're going to be a huge help, and I really appreciate you guys not telling Dr. Wells about this."

* * *

Four Days Later…

Olivia jumped slightly, startled, when her cellphone's loud ringtone rang out. She fumbled, reaching for her phone on her nightstand while also shutting her laptop and slipping out of bed. A quick glance at the screen showed her that Cisco was calling; she then answered the call immediately.

"Hey, Cisco. Did you get all of the new equipment ready?"

"Yeah. I finished a few hours ago. You're going to want to come down here as soon as you can, though; I might have found something that leads to the person that's wrecking the labs."

"Got it. I'll be there in thirty minutes." She hung up and set her phone back on her nightstand before she grabbed and put on a pair of comfy jeans and a soft blue tee shirt, shoving her feet into her worn red Chuck Taylors as she walked towards the apartment front door. Snatching her bag and keys, Olivia stepped through the door and locked it behind her.

Once she got downstairs, stepping out onto the sidewalk, she waved an arm wildly until a taxi pulled up. Hopping in the back, she fished a twenty dollar bill out of her bag and handed it to the driver. "S.T.A.R. Labs, and try to make it quick."

Olivia could see from the rear view mirror of the car that the driver frowned, clearly unhappy with her chosen destination, but he sighed and pulled away from the curb anyways. Staring out the window, Olivia tapped her fingers against her thighs impatiently. What could Cisco have found out?

* * *

Once she arrived at S.T.A.R. Labs, Olivia quickly entered the building and walked to the central room where Cisco and Caitlin worked.

"So, you guys found out something? Were there any suspicious employees or something?" she asked.

"Yup, one guy stood out. Clarence Miller, he has a criminal record, even if it's nothing too serious; arrested for DUI a few times, and once for illegal testing on animals. Says he worked at all four wrecked labs, plus one other, was relocated from each for, and I quote, 'belligerent attitude and disrespect for coworkers and superiors.'" Cisco answered.

"Wait. You said he worked at another Kord Enterprises lab? Where?" Olivia asked, a thought passing through her mind.

"Uh…" Cisco tapped the screen of his tablet, a minute or two passing before he looked up. "A place a few miles out of Central."

"That's it. That's gotta be where whoever this is is going to go next. They must be after Miller." Olivia declared, grabbing her new-and-improved gear and running to the nearest bathroom.

"Wait!" Cisco called after her. "You're going now? It's the middle of the day! They're not going to attack at 10 in the morning!"

Hearing his words, Olivia froze, the gears turning in her brain. Sighing, she turned around and rejoined them in the room. "You're right. All the other labs were attacked at night, right?"

Cisco nodded. "Yup. You should wait until tonight. Although you could totally try on the new equipment, and practice with the escrima sticks if you want."

Olivia nodded, walking back towards the bathroom. "I'll do that." Inside, she quickly changed into the improved gear. She looked in the mirror, twisting a bit to get a better look at it.

Cisco had completely scrapped her top, and made a new one— this time with a more functional design. It was still sleeveless, but she could feel the Kevlar now surrounding her torso. There was a hood that she quickly lifted over her head and he had swapped her somewhat flimsy mask for a more concealing one. The colors were still the same, thankfully (she rather liked the purple and black she had picked out), and the gloves now had the fingertips covered.

Olivia stepped out of the bathroom and skipped back into the main room, feeling a bit excited thanks to her new equipement. "Cisco, you did a great job. This is all really nice."

Caitlin and Cisco both spun around from where they were studying something on his tablet, jaws dropping when they saw her.

"Wow. Crescendo is in the same room as me. And I know who she is. And I designed her equipment." Cisco said. He then whispered, "So cool."

Olivia smirked, placing her hands on her hips. "So? Let me practice with the escrima sticks while you tell me what's up with this guy named Clarence Miller." She grabbed the sticks from the table, testing their weight in her hands. She adjusted her grip on them and swung them experimentally a few times. "Got any dummy I can beat up?"

Cisco shook his head, snapping out of his reverie. "Right. Um, Caitlin, we have a dummy in the lab, right? Can you get it?" Caitlin nodded and ran off, coming back a moment later, lugging a slightly padded cylinder with her, which she placed in front of Olivia before baking away.

She began to hit the dummy with the sticks, letting solid "thwack"s echo around the room. As she did, Cisco began speaking.

"Well, like I said, the guy's been arrested before because of illegal testing on animals. It was buried way deep into police records and was really hard to find— it looks like he tried to cover it up so he would be hired by Kord Enterprises."

* * *

Olivia was crouched on the edge of a rooftop, staring down at the fifth and final lab Clarence Miller had worked at. She blended in nicely against the dark night sky with her black and purple clothes, and was only visible if you knew what you were looking for.

Suddenly, a tiny and feminine figure darted towards the front doors of the lab. The figure pointed a slender arm at the lab's cameras from their blind spots, clearly taking them out. Determined, Olivia twirled her escrima sticks in her hands. She leapt off of her building's roof silently, grunting as her feet hit the ground solidly.

Olivia darted into the lab building, following the tiny woman- really, she looked like more of a little girl- silently and staying in the shadows. The girl skipped, now uncaring of being seen, down the hallway aimlessly, swinging her arms from side to side. A quiet humming could be heard over the echo of the girl's footsteps.

Getting closer, Olivia could see the girl's blonde hair: short and in two messy pigtails. How young was she? From the looks of her, she seemed around 8 years old, but how could a third grader destroy four high-security drug testing labs in less than three weeks? Shaking away those thoughts, Olivia focused on following the girl and staying silent.

Suddenly, the girl froze and growled, making Olivia instantly think of a rabid animal, then turned and ran down a huge hallway. Speeding up, Olivia followed her, but before she could turn the corner, she heard a sharp, piercing scream of pain, then another, and one last one, all in quick succession, before it was silent again.

Sprinting to round the corner, Olivia covered her mouth the stop herself from gasping at the sight before her. Two women, both in white lab coats, lay on the floor, eyes glassy and dull as they stared into space. Their necks were clearly broken and they were both dead.

But the girl was in the center of the hallway, one arm raised above her head, hand pointed daintily at a third scientist's dead body that was floating in the air. Was she holding him up in the air with her mind?

The girl suddenly withdrew her hand and the body tumbled to the floor, landing with a resounding thump. Olivia winced as breathy and high-pitched giggle rang out and the girl skipped down the hall, disappearing quickly.

"Guys, the person who's attacking the labs is just a kid. I think… I think she has some kind of telekinesis or something…" Olivia said quietly through her com link.

"_Kid? She? Telekinesis? Okay, this is just getting crazy._" Cisco said, voice muffled by something, probably one of the pieces of saltwater taffy Olivia had seen him eating when she left S.T.A.R. Labs.

"Yeah, and she seems in no way mentally stable."

"_That's unfortunate. Hey, can yo-_"

"_Cisco, she needs to focus! Olivia, try to follow her and see what she's after. There has to be some kind of reason she's hunting down Clarence Miller._"

"Okay. I might not be able to use the link for a while, I don't want her to he-"

Out of nowhere, a high-pitched giggle sounded. Olivia spun around, twisting until her eyes landed on the little girl, standing in the center of the hallway behind her.

"That's not nice." the girl pouted. "I don't like it when people play hide-and-seek without me!"

"_What's going on?_" Cisco demanded. "_Did you find her?_"

"More like she found me." Olivia muttered, fists tightening around her escrima sticks, preparing for a fight. Stopping her conversation through the comm link, she tried to smile at the girl. "Hey… what's your name?"

Ignoring her question, the kid took five quick steps towards her and froze. The entire space was silent as Olivia stilled, not wanting to startle her.

Suddenly, the little girl snarled and leapt forward, toppling Olivia to the ground in a surprising show of strength. The dark hood covering her hair fell back, and her blonde waves spilled out. The girl reached out and touched them slowly, her eyes wide. "You look like her. You look a lot like her."

Olivia, still frozen in shock, struggled to get the words out of her mouth. "Wh-who do I look l-like?" she stuttered.

The little girl laughed. "That's a silly question. My mommy, of course." The look in the girl's eyes changed from slightly deranged to hopeful in a second. "Are you… are you my mommy?"

* * *

**Dun dun dun dun…**

**The battle of Crescendo and Co. VS Creepy Telekinetic Child will be finished next chapter! Later! :P**


	10. Chapter 9 - Deception

**Okay.**

**There is no way for me to apologize that will be enough. I took about **_**four**_ **(five?) months to come out with this chapter. And I am so, so, **_**so**_ **sorry about that. Writer's block is a serious problem for me. I also suffer from the fear that nothing I write is good enough, so what you read has normally been rewritten about 3 to 5 times because I'm always anxious that it sucks. I'm sorry that this negatively affects my update schedule, but there's not really a ton I can do about it.**

**I also kinda lost interest in the Flash fandom for a while; over the summer I did a lot of laying around and watching TV, and my attention got diverted elsewhere. But now with the new season, I think I'll feel a ton more engaged and excited with the show- and this fanfic!**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, followed, even just read in between the last update and now. Thank you so much.**

**Just to let you know, I rewrote the last chapter- or at least, some of it -so you should check that out for this one to make sense (I changed the ending of the last chapter).**

**Allons-y!**

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_Previously on Crescendo:_

"_You look like her. You look a lot like her."_

_Olivia, still frozen in shock, struggled to get the words out of her mouth. "Wh-who do I look l-like?" she stuttered._

_The little girl laughed. "That's a silly question. My mommy, of course." The look in the girl's eyes changed from slightly deranged to hopeful in a second. "Are you… are you my mommy?"_

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Olivia stilled. She could here Cisco and Caitlin whispering through her comm link, and she scrambled to find a way to respond.

"_Play along._" Caitlin finally suggested. "_Maybe you can find out why she's doing this._"

Olivia cleared her throat, opening her mouth to speak. "Yeah, it's me. Your mommy's here."

The little girl squealed in happiness, letting out a shriek of pure joy. "Mommy! My mommy. You came back!" She jumped off of Olivia and tugged her up, making her stand, before twirling her around in a circle. She then encircled her in a sudden hug, squeezing her tightly. "I thought they hurt you, Mommy. They took you away and you never came back. And he said you were gone… dead… But you're not, are you Mommy?" the little girl looked up at her, smiling. "You got away."

Olivia tentatively hugged the girl back, her stomach doing flips out of nervousness. "Yeah… Mommy got away… she escaped."

The little girl sighed in relief and let go. "We can play together again, Mommy! We'll _always_ be together now. _Forever_." She grinned. "I love you, Mommy."

Olivia attempted to smile. "Love you too, baby."

"_Try to get her to tell you what happened, why she's after Clarence Miller._" Cisco suggested.

Olivia wracked her brain, trying to think of a way to get the kid to talk, without making her hostile again. "Hey, sweetie," she started tentatively.

The little girl looked up at her, smiling sweetly. "Yes, Mommy?"

Olivia cleared her throat. "Mommy hit her head… she can't remember what happened to her. Can you tell me how I got taken away?"

The little girl's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but she nodded. "After Daddy… went away… you cried a lot… and you said that we didn't have very m-much money… so you went to work as a… a… hu-human tester at Kord Ent-entrepise. Entapreese? I-it's hard to say, Mommy, and you wouldn't tell me what it is." she buried her face in Olivia's top, hugging her tightly again.

"That's okay, sweetie. Can you tell me what happened next?" Olivia whispered, mind racing.

The little girl hiccupped and continued. "Y-you didn't play with me as much b-because you were working." Letting out a sob, she took a deep breath. "Th-then one day you went away… and you d-didn't come back. There was just that man… he kept saying "she's gone"... "she's gone"... over and over and _over_…"

Olivia, swallowing thickly, pushed the girl away slightly and brushed her hair out of her face. Resting her hands on the kid's shoulders, she looked her straight in the eye. "It's okay. I'm… I'm never going away again."

The little girl's face broke out into a huge smile, clearly relieved at this reassurance. Once again, she hugged Olivia tightly. Pulling away for a second, she grinned up at her.

"Can we play our special game together, Mommy? Just like we did before you got taken away!"

Olivia froze. "Uhh… sure honey! What was it again?"

The girl frowned. "You remember, Mommy. You promised you would always remember to play it with me."

"_A treasure hunt?_" Cisco suggested. "_Playing house?_"

"_Think of something quick, Olivia! You don't want her to get suspicious, she's dangerous; you saw what she did to those scientists._"

Olivia wracked her brain frantically for games she played as a kid. "Uhh… right, sorry! Let's play… hide-and-seek!"

The girl's eyes narrowed and she growled. "That's. Not. Our. Special. Game."

"A-are you sure? Because I think I remember—" Olivia stumbled backwards, trying to get away from the advancing girl.

"You're not my mommy!" she screeched, preparing to throw her hands forward and probably kill Olivia.

Panicking, Crescendo fumbled with her escrima sticks, quickly lunging forwards and striking the girl at her right collarbone. As she did, her hand slipped and something on the stick clicked. When it came in contact with the little girl's skin, it let out a jolt of electricity that sent her into convulsions before she collapsed to the floor, limp.

"_Olivia? What's going on? Did she hurt you?_" Caitlin's anxious voice echoed through the comlink.

Taking a deep breath, Olivia held out the still-sparking escrima sticks as far away as possible from herself. "Cisco… Why did you feel it not important to tell me that _my escrima sticks are equipped with an electrical charge?!_"

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**I know this is super short, but I just had to post **_**something**_**. This is pretty much the only part of what I've written for this chapter that is actually fit for human eyes, so I thought that something was better than nothing.**

**I hope you can bear with my **_**very**_ **sporadic updates and frequent writer's block! Let me know in a review if you enjoyed this, as well as the changes I made in the last chapter. ^-^ I can't make any promises for when I'll update next, but here's hoping that it'll be soon!**


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